barleycorn

C2+ Topic:Mathematics & Measurement

US /ˈbɑrliˌkɔrn/ UK /ˈbɑːliˌkɔːn/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
a grain of barley; an old unit of length equal to one third of an inch

The shoe sizes once advanced by a single barleycorn each.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a grain of barley; an old... grain kernel seed

Word family

Related forms barley corn

Etymology

A compound of barley (Old English bærlic) and corn (Old English corn, 'grain'); the length unit was historically defined as the length of a grain of barley.

bærlic Old English corn Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Mathematics & Measurement

# barleycorn

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈbɑrliˌkɔrn
**IPA (UK):** ˈbɑːliˌkɔːn

## Meanings
1. a grain of barley; an old unit of length equal to one third of an inch

## Examples
- The shoe sizes once advanced by a single barleycorn each.

## Synonyms
- grain
- kernel
- seed

## Related Forms
- barley
- corn

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bærlic
- Root: corn

## Etymology
A compound of barley (Old English bærlic) and corn (Old English corn, 'grain'); the length unit was historically defined as the length of a grain of barley.

## AI Etymology
Barleycorn is a noun meaning "a grain of barley; an old unit of length equal to one third of an inch". Historically, it is a compound of barley (Old English bærlic) and corn (Old English corn, 'grain'); the length unit was historically defined as the length of a grain of barley. The visible construction is part of the etymology: barleycorn is not just an unanalyzed simple word. The historical chain links Old English bærlic with Old English corn. Close English family members include barley, and corn.

## Topics
- Mathematics & Measurement

markdown

barleycorn

Meanings

Thesaurus

Etymology

Topics

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback