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acorn
5 dictionary results for: Acorn
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
a·corn 
[ey-kawrn, ey-kern] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
[ey-kawrn, ey-kern] Pronunciation Key –noun
| 1. | the typically ovoid fruit or nut of an oak, enclosed at the base by a cupule. |
| 2. | a finial or knop, as on a piece of furniture, in the form of an acorn. |
[Origin: bef. 1000; ME acorne (influenced by corn), r. akern, OE æcern, æcren mast, oak-mast; c. ON akarn fruit of wild trees, MHG ackeran acorn, Goth akran fruit, yield < Gmc *akrana-; alleged derivation from base of acre is dubious if original reference was to wild trees]
] —Related forms
acorned, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| a·corn
(ā'kôrn', ā'kərn) Pronunciation Key
n. The fruit of an oak, consisting of a single-seeded, thick-walled nut set in a woody, cuplike base. [Middle English akorn, from Old English æcern.] Word History: A thoughtful glance at the word acorn might produce the surmise that it is made up of oak and corn, especially if we think of corn in its sense of "a kernel or seed of a plant," as in peppercorn. The fact that others thought the word was so constituted partly accounts for the present form acorn. Here we see the workings of the process of linguistic change known as folk etymology, an alteration in form of a word or phrase so that it resembles a more familiar term mistakenly regarded as analogous. Acorn actually goes back to Old English æcern, "acorn," which in turn goes back to the Indo-European root *ōg-, meaning "fruit, berry." |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
acorn
acorn
O.E. æcern "nut," common Gmc. (cf. O.N. akarn, Du. aker, Low Ger. ecker "acorn," Goth. akran "fruit"), originally the mast of any forest tree, and ultimately related to related (via notion of "fruit of the open or unenclosed land") to O.E. æcer "open land," Goth. akrs "field," O.Fr. aigrun "fruits and vegetables" (from a Gmc. source). The sense gradually restricted in Low Ger., Scand. and Eng. to the most important of the forest produce for feeding swine, the mast of the oak tree. Spelling changed by folk etymology from oak (O.E. ac) + corn.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| acorn | |
noun | |
| fruit of the oak tree: a smooth thin-walled nut in a woody cup-shaped base |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Acorn
A"corn\, n. [AS. [ae]cern, fr. [ae]cer field, acre; akin to D. aker acorn, Ger. ecker, Icel. akarn, Dan. agern, Goth. akran fruit, akrs field; -- orig. fruit of the field. See Acre.]1. The fruit of the oak, being an oval nut growing in a woody cup or cupule. 2. (Naut.) A cone-shaped piece of wood on the point of the spindle above the vane, on the mast-head. 3. (Zo["o]l.) See Acorn-shell.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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