corn
Pluralcorns (some meanings)
Pluralcorns (some meanings)
- 1A tall plant grown for its rows of yellow seeds, eaten as a vegetable or grain.
Farmers grow corn in big fields every summer.
We ate corn straight off the cob at the picnic.
Similarmaize
Note
- 2One small seed or grain, such as of wheat, or any tiny hard bit.
Verely, verely, I ſay vnto you, Except a corne of wheat fall into the ground, and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
1611, The Holy Bible, King James VersionHere, corne means a single grain or seed.He paid her the nominal fee of two corns of barley.
Here, corns means single grains or seeds.UsageToday people say a grain or a seed; a corn of wheat sounds very old.
Note
- 3
- 4
Less common meanings
- 5A small, hard patch of thick skin that forms on a toe or foot.
Like a small, hard bump of skin where your shoe keeps rubbing.
A painful corn on her toe made walking hard.
He soaked his feet to soften the corn.
Similarcallus
Note
- 6Acting, music, or writing that feels too old-fashioned or too sappy.
Like a greeting card so sweet it almost makes you laugh.
The movie's ending was pure corn, but people cried anyway.
My grandpa loves old movies, even the ones full of corn.
UsagePeople often say pure corn. The word corny is more common.
Similarschmaltz, kitsch, sentimentality, mush, cheese
- 7To feed grain such as maize to a farm animal.
Each morning we corn the horses before letting them out.
Farmers corn their cattle through the cold months.
UsageYou corn the animal: corn the horses.
Similarfeed
Note
- 8To turn a substance into small grains.
Workers corn the powder to make even grains.
Long ago, people learned to corn gunpowder into small, even grains.
Similargranulate
Note
- 9To make someone drunk.
Note
- 10Pictures or videos that show sex, made to excite people.
- 11Grainy spring snow that forms when snow melts in the day and freezes again at night.
- 12Money, especially cash.
- 13Bullets for guns, or the loading and firing of guns.
- 14To hit something with many bullets from a gun.
- 15A bruise on the underside of a horse's hoof, near the heel.
- 16A growth of thick skin and tissue between the toes of a cow.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
This comes from Old English "corn," going back to very old Germanic and Indo-European roots meaning "grain." The meaning "maize" is a short form of "Indian corn" from 18th-century North America.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Corn comes from Old English corn. en.wiktionary.org
- Corn has Germanic and Indo-European ancestry meaning grain. en.wiktionary.org
- The maize sense arose by shortening Indian corn in eighteenth-century North America. en.wikisource.org
This comes from Latin "cornū," through Old French, and is related to the word "horn."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Corn comes from Latin cornū through Old French. en.wiktionary.org
- Corn is related to horn. en.wiktionary.org
This comes from the word "corny."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Corn, in the sense of old-fashioned or sentimental entertainment, comes from corny. en.wiktionary.org