grain

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English [edit]

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Wikipedia Wikipedia

Mixed grain—the harvested seeds
A close-up of wood grain—texture of material

Pronunciation [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

From Old French grain, from Latin grānum (seed), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (grain). Compare English corn.

Noun [edit]

grain (countable and uncountable; plural grains)

  1. (uncountable) The harvested seeds of various grass-related food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.
    We stored a thousand tons of grain for the winter.
  2. (countable) A single seed of grain.
    a grain of wheat
  3. (countable, uncountable) The crops from which grain is harvested.
    The fields were planted with grain.
  4. (uncountable) A linear texture of a material or surface.
    Cut along the grain of the wood.
  5. (countable) A single particle of a substance.
    a grain of sand
    a grain of salt
  6. (countable) A very small unit of weight, in England equal to 1/480 of an ounce troy, 0.0648 grams or, to be more exact, 64.79891 milligrams (0.002285714 avoirdupois ounce). A carat grain or pearl grain is 1/4 carat or 50 milligrams. The old French grain was 1/9216 livre or 53.11 milligrams, and in the mesures usuelles permitted from 1812 to 1839, with the livre redefined as 500 grams, it was 54.25 milligrams.
  7. (countable) A former unit of gold purity, also known as carat grain, equal to 14 "carat" (karat).
  8. (materials) A region within a material having a single crystal structure or direction.
Derived terms [edit]
Related terms [edit]
See also [edit]
Translations [edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Verb [edit]

grain (third-person singular simple present grains, present participle graining, simple past and past participle grained)

  1. To feed grain to.
  2. To make granular; to form into grains.
  3. To texture a surface in imitation of the grain of a substance such as wood.
  4. (tanning) To remove the hair or fat from a skin.
  5. (tanning) To soften leather.
Translations [edit]

Etymology 2 [edit]

See groin (part of the body).

Noun [edit]

grain (plural grains)

  1. A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of G. Douglas to this entry?)
  2. A tine, prong, or fork.
    1. One of the branches of a valley or river.
    2. An iron fish spear or harpoon, with a number of points half-barbed inwardly.
      • 1770: Served 5 lb of fish per man which was caught by striking with grains — journal of Stephen Forwood (gunner on H.M. Bark Endeavour), 4 May 1770, quoted by Parkin (page 195).
    3. A blade of a sword, knife, etc.
  3. (founding) A thin piece of metal, used in a mould to steady a core.

External links [edit]

Anagrams [edit]


French [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

From Latin granum.

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

grain m (plural grains)

  1. grain
  2. (figuratively) a small amount, a bit
Derived terms [edit]

Etymology 2 [edit]

EB1911 - Volume 01 - Page 001 - 1.svg This entry lacks etymological information. If you are familiar with the origin of this term, please add it to the page as described here.

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: /gʁɛ̃/

Noun [edit]

grain m (plural grains)

  1. (nautical) squall, thunderstorm

Anagrams [edit]


Old French [edit]

Etymology [edit]

Latin grānum.

Noun [edit]

grain m (oblique plural grains, nominative singular grains, nominative plural grain)

  1. grain (edible part of a cereal plant)

Descendants [edit]