barleycorn C2+ Topic:Plants & Agriculture US /ˈbɑrliˌkɔrn/ UK /ˈbɑːliˌkɔːn/ See IPA manual 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... grainkernelseed Word family Related forms barleycorn Etymology AI details 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 Plants & Agriculture External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # 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 - Plants & Agriculture markdown