acorn
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Alternative forms
- achorn (Chester)
Etymology
From Middle English acorn, an alteration (after corn) of earlier *akern, from Old English æcern (“acorn, oak-mast”), from Proto-West Germanic *akarn, from Proto-Germanic *akraną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂égrō (“berry”). Cognate with Scots aicorn, Saterland Frisian Äkkene, Tocharian B oko (“fruit”), Welsh eirin (“plums”), Breton irin (“plum”), Irish airne (“sloe”), Lithuanian úoga, Russian я́года (jágoda, “berry”), etc. Not related to Old English āc (“oak”) or corn (“corn, seed”).
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈeɪ.kɔɹn/, /ˈeɪkɚn/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈeɪ.kɔːn/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -eɪkɔː(ɹ)n, -eɪkə(ɹ)n
Noun
acorn (plural acorns)
- The fruit of the oak, being an oval nut growing in a woody cup or cupule.
- (nautical) A cone-shaped piece of wood on the point of the spindle above the vane, on the mast-head.
- (zoology) See acorn-shell.
- (informal) The glans penis.
- 2021, A. W. Strouse, Form & Foreskin: Medieval Narratives of Circumsion:
- The Romans, likewise, represented the uncouth Priapus—the god of rustic fertility and sexual assault—as comically well endowed, with his acorn showing.
- (slang, usually in the plural) A testicle.
Holonyms
- (fruit of an oak): oak
Derived terms
- acorn barnacle
- acorn cup
- acorn disease
- acorned
- acornlike
- acorn moth
- acorn nut
- acorn squash
- acorn sugar
- acorn weevil
- acorn woodpecker
- acorn worm
- eggcorn
- even a blind pig can find an acorn, even a blind pig can find an acorn once in a while, even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then, even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while
- mount a horse foaled by an acorn
- ride a horse foaled by an acorn
- ride a horse foaled of an acorn
- sea acorn
Translations
fruit of the oak tree
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References
- (glans penis): Tony Thorne (2014) “acorn”, in Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, 4th edition, London, […]: Bloomsbury
See also
Anagrams
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old English æcern, from Proto-West Germanic *akran, from Proto-Germanic *akraną.
The last element of this word is often remodelled on corn.
Pronunciation
Noun
acorn
Descendants
References
- “ā̆korn, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
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