noun
a. Any of numerous cultivated forms of a widely grown, usually tall annual cereal grass (Zea mays) bearing grains or kernels on large ears.
b. The grains or kernels of this plant, used as food for humans and livestock or for the extraction of an edible oil or starch. Also called Indian corn . Also called maize .
- An ear of this plant.
- Chiefly British Any of various cereal plants or grains, especially the principal crop cultivated in a particular region, such as wheat in England or oats in Scotland.
a. A single grain of a cereal plant.
b. A seed or fruit of various other plants, such as a peppercorn.
- Corn snow.
- Informal Corn whiskey.
- Slang Something considered trite, dated, melodramatic, or unduly sentimental.
verb
corned, corn·ing, corns verb
transitive- To cause to form hard particles; granulate.
a. To season and preserve with granulated salt.
b. To preserve (beef, for example) in brine.
- To feed (animals) with corn or grain.
verb
intransitiveTo form hard particles; become grainy: “After the snow melts all day, it corns up at night for fine conditions” ( Hatfield MA Valley Advocate )
Origin of corn
Middle English
grain from Old English; see
g&rlowring;ə-no- in Indo-European roots.
Word History: Originally, the English word
corn meant any rounded grain or seed whatsoever. In particular, it was used to refer to the kind of grain most often grown in a certain region. Thus in England, a
cornfield is usually a field of wheat. The pretty blue
cornflower is a Eurasian weed that originally plagued fields of wheat, not maize. In Scotland, on the other hand,
corn can mean “oats,” the grain that thrives best in Scotland's cool and damp climate. To modern North Americans, however,
corn means
maize —that is, the plant
Zea mays and its seeds. When they first encountered
Zea mays in the 16th century, the English borrowed the Spanish term for the grain,
maíz, which is in turn a borrowing of Arawakan
mahiz or
mahís. Later, in the 17th century, another term for maize appears,
Indian corn —the word
Indian here meaning “native to the Americas.” The American word
corn in the specific meaning “maize” is simply a shortening of
Indian corn. noun
A horny thickening of the skin, usually on or near a toe, resulting from pressure or friction. Also called clavus .
Origin of corn
Middle English
corne from Old French
horn from Latin
cornū ; see
ker-1 in Indo-European roots.
Noun (usually uncountable, plural corns)
- (uncountable) A cereal plant grown for its grain, specifically the main such plant grown in a given region, such as oats in parts of Scotland and Ireland, wheat or barley in England and Wales, and maize or sweetcorn in the Americas.
- (US, Canada, Australia, uncountable) A type of grain of the species Zea mays, maize
- (UK, uncountable) A grain or seed, especially of cereal crops.
- A small, hard particle.
Verb (third-person singular simple present corns, present participle corning, simple past and past participle corned)
- (US, Canada) To granulate; to form a substance into grains.
- to corn gunpowder
- (US, Canada) To preserve using coarse salt, e.g. corned beef
- (US, Canada) To provide with corn (typically maize; or, in Scotland, oats) for feed.
- Corn the horses.
- To render intoxicated.
- ale strong enough to corn one
Origin From Middle English corn, from Old English corn, from Proto-Germanic *kurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain; worn-down”), neuter participle of Proto-Indo-European *ǵer- (“to wear down”), or a substantivized form of *ǵr̥h₂-nós (“matured, grown old”), from *ǵerh₂- (“grow old, mature”). Cognate with Dutch koren, Low German Koorn, German Korn, Danish/Norwegian/Swedish korn; see also Russian зерно (zerno), Czech zrno, Latin grānum, Lithuanian žirnis, Persian خرمن (xarman), and English grain.
Noun (plural corns)
- A type of callus, usually on the feet or hands.
Origin From Old French corn (modern French cor).
Noun (uncountable)
- (US, Canada) Something (e.g. acting, humour, music, or writing) which is deemed old-fashioned or intended to induce emotion.
Origin This use was first used in 1932, as corny, something appealing to country folk.
Noun (uncountable)
- (uncountable) short for corn snow. A type of granular snow formed by repeated melting and re-freezing, often in mountain spring conditions.
Suffix - having (such) horns; one having (such) horns
- unicorn
- Capricorn
- caducicorn
Origin Latin cornu (“horn")
