grain
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English greyn, grayn, grein, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain”). Compare English corn. Doublet of gram.
Noun[edit]
grain (countable and uncountable, plural grains)
- (uncountable) The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.
- We stored a thousand tons of grain for the winter.
- (uncountable) Similar seeds from any food crop, e.g., buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa.
- (countable) A single seed of grass food crops.
- a grain of wheat
- grains of oat
- (countable, uncountable) The crops from which grain is harvested.
- The fields were planted with grain.
- (uncountable) A linear texture of a material or surface.
- Cut along the grain of the wood.
- He doesn't like to shave against the grain.
- (countable) A single particle of a substance.
- a grain of sand
- a grain of salt
- (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.
- (countable) A former unit of gold purity, also known as carat grain, equal to 1⁄4 "carat" (karat).
- (materials) A region within a material having a single crystal structure or direction.
- (astronautics) The solid piece of fuel in an individual solid-fuel rocket engine.
- A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple.
- 1646 (indicated as 1645), John Milton, “Penseroso”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], OCLC 606951673:
- all in a robe of darkest grain
- a. 1825, Quoted by Coleridge, preface to Aids to Reflection:
- […] doing as the dyers do, who, having first dipped their silks in colours of less value, then give them the last tincture of crimson in grain.
- The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.
- 1773, Royal Dublin Society, The Art of Tanning and of Currying Leather:
- The grain of the leather is also sometimes damaged by the filling , by the taking off the hair , and by the river work.
- (in the plural) The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff.
- (botany) A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock.
- Temper; natural disposition; inclination.
- 1630, John Hayward, The Life and Raigne of King Edward VI:
- brothers […] not united in grain
- (photography, videography) Visual texture in processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons.
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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- 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 Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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See also[edit]
- cereal
- Appendix:Grains – translation tables for various grains
Verb[edit]
grain (third-person singular simple present grains, present participle graining, simple past and past participle grained)
- To feed grain to.
- (transitive) To make granular; to form into grains.
- (intransitive) To form grains, or to assume a granular form, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.
- To texture a surface in imitation of the grain of a substance such as wood.
- (tanning) To remove the hair or fat from a skin.
- (tanning) To soften leather.
- To yield fruit.
Translations[edit]
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Etymology 2[edit]
From Middle English grayn, from Old Norse grein.
Noun[edit]
grain (plural grains)
- A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant.
- A tine, prong, or fork.
- One of the branches of a valley or river.
- An iron fish spear or harpoon, with a number of points half-barbed inwardly.
- 4 May 1770, Stephen Forwood (gunner on H.M. Bark Endeavour), journal (quoted by Parkin (page 195)
- Served 5 lb of fish per man which was caught by striking with grains
- 4 May 1770, Stephen Forwood (gunner on H.M. Bark Endeavour), journal (quoted by Parkin (page 195)
- A blade of a sword, knife, etc.
- (founding) A thin piece of metal, used in a mould to steady a core.
Further reading[edit]
- “grain” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- “grain” in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams[edit]
French[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle French, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm.
Noun[edit]
grain m (plural grains)
- grain
- (figuratively) a small amount, a bit
Derived terms[edit]
- avoir un grain
- grain de beauté
- gros-grain
- mettre son grain de sel
- ramener son grain de sel
- séparer le bon grain de l'ivraie
- veiller au grain
Related terms[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun[edit]
grain m (plural grains)
Derived terms[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “grain”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle English[edit]
Verb[edit]
grain
- Alternative form of greynen
Old French[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Noun[edit]
grain m (oblique plural grainz, nominative singular grainz, nominative plural grain)
- grain (edible part of a cereal plant)
- circa 1120, Philippe de Taon, Bestiaire, line 421:
- E quant grain ad truved de tuz maneres de bled
- When it [the ant] found grain of all manners of wheat
Related terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
Scots[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English grayn, greyn, grein, from Old Norse grein (“branch, twig”), from Proto-Germanic *grainiz (“branch”).
Noun[edit]
grain (plural grains)
- English 1-syllable words
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