grain
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English greyn, grayn, grein, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain”). Doublet of corn, gram, granum, and grao.
Noun
grain (countable and uncountable, plural grains)
- (uncountable) The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.
- We stored a thousand tons of grain for the winter.
- (uncountable) Similar seeds from any food crop, e.g., buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa.
- (countable) A single seed of grass food crops.
- a grain of wheat
- grains of oat
- (countable, uncountable) The crops from which grain is harvested.
- The fields were planted with grain.
- (uncountable) A linear texture of a material or surface.
- Cut along the grain of the wood.
- He doesn't like to shave against the grain.
- (countable) A single particle of a substance.
- a grain of sand
- a grain of salt
- (countable) Any of various small units of mass originally notionally based on grain's weight, variously standardized at different places and times, including
- The English grain of 1⁄5760 troy pound or 1⁄7000 pound avoirdupois, now exactly 64.79891 mg.
- Synonym: troy grain
- The metric, carat, or pearl grain of 1⁄4 carat used for measuring precious stones and pearls, now exactly 50 mg.
- (historical) The French grain of 1⁄9216 livre, equivalent to 53.11 mg at metricization and equal to exactly 54.25 mg from 1812–1839 as part of the mesures usuelles.
- The English grain of 1⁄5760 troy pound or 1⁄7000 pound avoirdupois, now exactly 64.79891 mg.
- (countable, chiefly historical) Any of various small units of length originally notionally based on a grain's width, variously standardized at different places and times.
- (countable, historical) The carat grain of 1⁄4 carat as a measure of gold purity, creating a 96-point scale between 0% and 100% purity.
- (materials) A region within a material having a single crystal structure or direction.
- (astronautics) The solid piece of fuel in an individual solid-fuel rocket engine.
- A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple.
- 1646 (indicated as 1645), John Milton, “Penseroso”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], →OCLC:
- all in a robe of darkest grain
- a. 1825, Quoted by Coleridge, preface to Aids to Reflection:
- […] doing as the dyers do, who, having first dipped their silks in colours of less value, then give them the last tincture of crimson in grain.
- The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.
- 1773, Royal Dublin Society, The Art of Tanning and of Currying Leather:
- The grain of the leather is also sometimes damaged by the filling , by the taking off the hair , and by the river work.
- (in the plural) The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum.
- Synonym: draff
- (botany) A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock.
- Temper; natural disposition; inclination.
- a. 1628 (date written), John Hayward, The Life, and Raigne of King Edward the Sixt, London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press, and J. Lichfield at Oxford?] for Iohn Partridge, […], published 1630, →OCLC:
- brothers […] not united in grain
- (photography, videography) Visual texture in processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons.
Derived terms
- against the grain
- ancient grain
- argyrophilic grain disease
- end grain
- feed grain
- felt grain
- go against the grain
- grain beetle
- grain boundary
- grain corn
- grain elevator
- grain engulfment
- grain entrapment
- grain itch
- grain moon
- grain of paradise
- grain of salt
- grain of truth
- grain physa
- grain refiner
- grain size
- grains of paradise
- grain weevil
- grain whiskey
- grain whisky
- grain yard
- grainygrip grain
- grip grain
- guinea grains
- kefir grain
- pollen grain
- pseudograin
- puffed grain
- seed grain
- silver-grain
- silver grain
- snow grains
- soft-grain
- there's a grain of truth in every joke
- troy grain
- whole-grain
- whole grain
- wholegrain
- with a grain of salt
Related terms
Translations
harvested seeds of various grass-related food crops
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single seed of grain
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crops from which grain is harvested
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linear texture of material or surface
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single particle of a substance
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unit of mass notionally based on grain's weight
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1⁄4 carat as measure of gold purity
materials: region within a material having a single crystal structure or direction
rocketry: solid piece of fuel
reddish dye made from the coccus insect
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hair side of a piece of leather
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botany: rounded prominence on the back of a sepal
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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See also
- cereal
- Appendix:Grains – translation tables for various grains
Verb
grain (third-person singular simple present grains, present participle graining, simple past and past participle grained)
- To feed grain to.
- (transitive) To make granular; to form into grains.
- (intransitive) To form grains, or to assume a granular form, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.
- To texture a surface in imitation of the grain of a substance such as wood.
- (tanning) To remove the hair or fat from a skin.
- (tanning) To soften leather.
- To yield fruit.
Translations
to make granular
to assume a granular form
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Etymology 2
From Middle English grayn, from Old Norse grein (“bough, branch”), from Proto-Germanic *grainiz (“branch, twig, ramification”), of unknown origin. Related to English grove (“thicket”).
Alternative forms
- grane (Scotland, Northern England)
Noun
grain (plural grains)
- A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant; an offshoot.
- A tine, prong, or fork.
- One of the branches of a valley or river.
- An iron fish spear or harpoon, with a number of points half-barbed inwardly.
- 4 May 1770, Stephen Forwood (gunner on H.M. Bark Endeavour), journal (quoted by Parkin (page 195)
- Served 5 lb of fish per man which was caught by striking with grains
- 4 May 1770, Stephen Forwood (gunner on H.M. Bark Endeavour), journal (quoted by Parkin (page 195)
- A blade of a sword, knife, etc.
- An arm of a cross.
- (founding) A thin piece of metal, used in a mould to steady a core.
- (dialectal) A branch or arm of a stream, inlet, or sea.
- (dialectal) A fork in a river valley or ravine.
- (dialectal) The branch of a family; clan.
- (dialectal, anatomy) The groin; crotch.
- (dialectal, anatomy) The fangs of a tooth.
Further reading
- “grain”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “grain”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Inherited from Middle French, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm.
Noun
grain m (plural grains)
- grain
- (figurative) a small amount, a bit
Derived terms
Related terms
Etymology 2
Perhaps from etymology 1, referring to hailstones. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
grain m (plural grains)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “grain”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
Verb
grain
- Alternative form of greynen
Alternative forms
Etymology
Noun
grain oblique singular, m (oblique plural grainz, nominative singular grainz, nominative plural grain)
- grain (edible part of a cereal plant)
Related terms
- grenier / guernier
Descendants
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English grayn, greyn, grein, from Old Norse grein (“branch, twig”), from Proto-Germanic *grainiz (“branch”).
Noun
grain (plural grains)