Where does “corn” come from?
Corn comes from Middle English corn, from Old French corne, from Latin cornu meaning horn or hard projection, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ḱerh₂-.
corn (English): The main cereal plant grown for its grain in a...
Definitions
- The main cereal plant grown for its grain in a...
Ancestry of “corn”, step by step
corn traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English corn
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | corn | Any plant that bears grain, especially wheat; a... |
| 2 | Old English | corn | corn, a grain or seed; a cornlike pimple, a corn... |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | korn | corn, grain, cereal |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | kurną | corn, grain, cereal |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵr̥h₂nóm | grain |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵr̥h₂nós | matured, grown old |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵerh₂- | to grow old, to mature |