4 ms·

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.
  - DonaldFisk 5y ago
    >"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? In the UK, there are some exceptions, where it specifically refers to maize: cornflakes, corn on the cob, sweetcorn, and cornflour.
    - OJFord 5y ago
      Corn (resp. maize) flour is also interesting for being an unusually 'correct' usage of 'flour' - if you look on Wikipedia it's easy to think it's 'incorrect', because it will show you 'cornmeal' and say 'for maize starch called cornflour in the UK' etc. but actually the starch, the endosperm, is the part of the grain (resp. corn! But that's too confusing) that when milled is properly called 'flour'. In general many 'flours' are more properly 'meals'. ('Cornmeal' is similarly accurate, but the meal vs. flour is a correct distinction, not a language error/regional difference that ought to lead to mistakes. I suppose it's just called 'starch' in the US hence the wording of the 'if you mean'.)
deleted 5y ago
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fastaguy88 5y ago
And it is perhaps worth mentioning that there was no "corn" ("mais", "maize") in Europe before the 15th century.

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.
- DonaldFisk 5y ago
  >"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? In the UK, there are some exceptions, where it specifically refers to maize: cornflakes, corn on the cob, sweetcorn, and cornflour.
  - OJFord 5y ago
    Corn (resp. maize) flour is also interesting for being an unusually 'correct' usage of 'flour' - if you look on Wikipedia it's easy to think it's 'incorrect', because it will show you 'cornmeal' and say 'for maize starch called cornflour in the UK' etc. but actually the starch, the endosperm, is the part of the grain (resp. corn! But that's too confusing) that when milled is properly called 'flour'. In general many 'flours' are more properly 'meals'. ('Cornmeal' is similarly accurate, but the meal vs. flour is a correct distinction, not a language error/regional difference that ought to lead to mistakes. I suppose it's just called 'starch' in the US hence the wording of the 'if you mean'.)

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

fastaguy88 5y ago

And it is perhaps worth mentioning that there was no "corn" ("mais", "maize") in Europe before the 15th century.