5 ms·

from the article, quoting and translating > Tun frere n’ad ne pain ne ble ne vin > ‘Your brother has neither bread nor corn nor wine; nope: ble is wheat in m

from the article, quoting and translating > Tun frere n’ad ne pain ne ble ne vin > ‘Your brother has neither bread nor corn nor wine; nope: ble is wheat in modern French, and corn had not been brought back from the new world yet when this poem was written.

stevula 5y ago
Corn simply means “grain” in English-speaking places where maize is not a staple food.
- lostlogin 5y ago
  Could you specify some places this applies to? It certainly isn’t the case with in New Zealand, and I’m reasonable certain that applies to Australia and the UK too.
  - infradig 5y ago
    John Barleycorn Must Die.
  - junon 5y ago
    In German "Korn" means grain - e.g. "Vollkorn" meaning "whole grain".
  - morsch 5y ago
    UK. Though maybe Cambridge is slow/conservative in noticing usage change. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/corn https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/corn
    - OJFord 5y ago
      'Corn' alone is unusual I'd say, and someone saying it yes probably in agriculture and means any grain. Otherwise 'sweetcorn' or 'corn on the cob' ('corncob') are common. But you can't have e.g. 'wheat on the cob' so it's not ambiguous.
  - billfruit 5y ago
    Perhaps it is not current usage, but I guess it might have be common English usage till 19th century. I think that I have seen corn used generically in novels and other works from before that time. May be you can find reference to corn in Chaucer, I don't exactly remember if it is there for sure.
  - iam-TJ 5y ago
    UK farmer here - since childhood in 1970s we've always called it "corn harvest" when talking about wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc.; sometimes Maize is referred to as corn-on-the-cob.
- smackeyacky 5y ago
  Yeah, nah. Corn is maize in all the english speaking countries I've been to and lived in and used for nothing else.
  - rvense 5y ago
    Yes, but this is recent, hundred years or so.
  - simonh 5y ago
    The English countryside is an exception. Townies are more likely to use it in the American sense though these days.
DoItToMe81 5y ago
Before 'corn' the vegetable, corn was used as a catch all in English for cereal grains. Sometimes it's used to evoke an antiquated feel in text.
- carlmr 5y ago
  Still means grain in German.
  - dep_b 5y ago
    Also Dutch: "koren"
  - mzi 5y ago
    Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm [0] So I would guess most European languages would have the same meaning in one way or another. 0: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/corn https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/corn
  - skinkestek 5y ago
    Same in Norway: korn
  - kazinator 5y ago
    In English, it used to mean a grain of anything, not just a cereal grain. This usage surives in "corned beef", which refers to granular salt used for preserving the meat, nothing to do with cereal grains. "Corn" still refers to multiple cereals in British English; what Americans call "corn" is "maize". Or so it used to be; perhaps it is changing? "Corn" also refers to a lump of hardened skin; but that has a different origin, related to "horn", going back to Greek. It shares with "cornucopia" and "cornet" and "keratin". "acorn" is also not derived from "corn", interestingly; it has its own etymology. It is not a portmanteau of "aiken corn" (oak tree's corn) or anything like that as might be wrongly guessed. "kernel" is related to "corn" though, not to horns or keratin. OS kernels are named because they are the central part, like a seed, not because kernel programmers have thick skins or devil horns.
    - 5y ago
Mikeb85 5y ago
Corn only refers exclusively to maize in North American English. Corn is a catch-all term for all cereal grains. Maize is the cereal grain from Mexico that everyone makes tortillas from...

stevula 5y ago

Corn simply means “grain” in English-speaking places where maize is not a staple food.

lostlogin 5y ago
Could you specify some places this applies to? It certainly isn’t the case with in New Zealand, and I’m reasonable certain that applies to Australia and the UK too.
- infradig 5y ago
  John Barleycorn Must Die.
- junon 5y ago
  In German "Korn" means grain - e.g. "Vollkorn" meaning "whole grain".
- morsch 5y ago
  UK. Though maybe Cambridge is slow/conservative in noticing usage change. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/corn https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/corn
  - OJFord 5y ago
    'Corn' alone is unusual I'd say, and someone saying it yes probably in agriculture and means any grain. Otherwise 'sweetcorn' or 'corn on the cob' ('corncob') are common. But you can't have e.g. 'wheat on the cob' so it's not ambiguous.
- billfruit 5y ago
  Perhaps it is not current usage, but I guess it might have be common English usage till 19th century. I think that I have seen corn used generically in novels and other works from before that time. May be you can find reference to corn in Chaucer, I don't exactly remember if it is there for sure.
- iam-TJ 5y ago
  UK farmer here - since childhood in 1970s we've always called it "corn harvest" when talking about wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc.; sometimes Maize is referred to as corn-on-the-cob.
smackeyacky 5y ago
Yeah, nah. Corn is maize in all the english speaking countries I've been to and lived in and used for nothing else.
- rvense 5y ago
  Yes, but this is recent, hundred years or so.
- simonh 5y ago
  The English countryside is an exception. Townies are more likely to use it in the American sense though these days.

DoItToMe81 5y ago

Before 'corn' the vegetable, corn was used as a catch all in English for cereal grains. Sometimes it's used to evoke an antiquated feel in text.

carlmr 5y ago
Still means grain in German.
- dep_b 5y ago
  Also Dutch: "koren"
- mzi 5y ago
  Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm [0] So I would guess most European languages would have the same meaning in one way or another. 0: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/corn https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/corn
- skinkestek 5y ago
  Same in Norway: korn
- kazinator 5y ago
  In English, it used to mean a grain of anything, not just a cereal grain. This usage surives in "corned beef", which refers to granular salt used for preserving the meat, nothing to do with cereal grains. "Corn" still refers to multiple cereals in British English; what Americans call "corn" is "maize". Or so it used to be; perhaps it is changing? "Corn" also refers to a lump of hardened skin; but that has a different origin, related to "horn", going back to Greek. It shares with "cornucopia" and "cornet" and "keratin". "acorn" is also not derived from "corn", interestingly; it has its own etymology. It is not a portmanteau of "aiken corn" (oak tree's corn) or anything like that as might be wrongly guessed. "kernel" is related to "corn" though, not to horns or keratin. OS kernels are named because they are the central part, like a seed, not because kernel programmers have thick skins or devil horns.
  - 5y ago

Mikeb85 5y ago

Corn only refers exclusively to maize in North American English. Corn is a catch-all term for all cereal grains. Maize is the cereal grain from Mexico that everyone makes tortillas from...