acorn

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English[edit]

Acorns.
 Acorn (disambiguation) on Wikipedia

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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 *h₂ógeh₂ (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.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

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[edit]

  • (fruit of an oak): oak

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

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

See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

acorn

  1. An acorn or similar fruit.

Descendants[edit]

  • English: acorn
  • Scots: aicorn

References[edit]