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acorn

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by Amtin (talk | contribs) as of 13:51, 23 June 2024.

English

Acorns.
 Acorn (disambiguation) on Wikipedia

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English acorn, an alteration (after corn) of earlier *akern, from Old English æcern (acorn, oak-mast), 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

Noun

acorn (plural acorns)

  1. The fruit of the oak, being an oval nut growing in a woody cup or cupule.
  2. (nautical) A cone-shaped piece of wood on the point of the spindle above the vane, on the mast-head.
  3. (zoology) See acorn-shell.
  4. 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.
  5. (slang, usually in the plural) A testicle.

Holonyms

  • (fruit of an oak): oak

Derived terms

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Translations

References

  • (glans penis): Tony Thorne (2014) “acorn”, in Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, 4th edition, London,  []: Bloomsbury

See also

Anagrams

Middle English

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

  • IPA(key): /ˈaːkər/, /ˈakɔrn/, /ˈaːkɔrn/

Noun

acorn

  1. An acorn or similar fruit.

Descendants

  • English: acorn
  • Scots: aicorn

References