corn

I. noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German & Old Norse korn grain, Latin granum Date: before 12th century 1. chiefly dialect a small hard particle ; grain 2. a small hard seed 3. a. the seeds of a cereal grass and especially of the important cereal crop of a particular region (as wheat in Britain, oats in Scotland and Ireland, and Indian corn in the New World and Australia) b. the kernels of sweet corn served as a vegetable while still soft and milky 4. a plant that produces corn; especially Indian corn 1 5. corn whiskey 6. a. something (as writing, music, or acting) that is corny b. the quality or state of being corny ; corniness 7. corn snow II. transitive verb Date: 1560 1. to form into grains ; granulate 2. a. to preserve or season with salt in grains b. to cure or preserve in brine containing preservatives and often seasonings <

corned beef

> 3. to feed with corn <

corn the horses

> III. noun Etymology: Middle English corne, from Anglo-French, horn, from Latin cornu horn, point — more at horn Date: 15th century a local hardening and thickening of epidermis (as on a toe)