grain

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the direction, texture, or pattern of fibers found in wood or leather or stone or in a woven fabric

   saw the board across the grain

2. 2
   noun

   the smallest possible unit of anything

   There was a grain of truth in what I said.

3. 3
   noun

   a relatively small granular particle of a substance

   a grain of sand

4. 4
   noun

   a cereal grass

   wheat is a grain that is grown in Kansas

5. 5
   noun

   1/7000 pound

   equals a troy grain or 64.799 milligrams

6. 6
   noun

   1/60 dram

   equals an avoirdupois grain or 64.799 milligrams

7. 7
   verb

   thoroughly work in

   Their hands were grained with dirt.

8. 8
   noun

   The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.

   We stored a thousand tons of grain for the winter.

Etymology

From Middle English greyn, grayn, grein, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain”). Doublet of corn, gram, granum, and grao.