kernel

C2 Topic:Plants & Agriculture

US /ˈkɝ.nəl/ UK /ˈkɜː.nəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #29903

Meanings

1

noun
a single whole grain of a cereal

A kernel of corn.
2

noun
the inner and usually edible part of a seed or grain or nut or fruit stone

Black walnut kernels are difficult to get out of the shell.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · the inner and usually... meat

More crux gist barleycorn marrow pith

Word family

Forms kerneledkernelingkernelledkernellingkernels

Derived forms cokernelenkernelexokernelkernalkernelatekernelisationkernelizationkernelizekernellesskernellymultikernelnanokernel

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

palm kernel
the seed contained within the fruit of an oil palm

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Kernel is an Old English formation based on corn and originally meant a “little grain or seed.”

Etymology

From Middle English kernel, kirnel, kürnel, from Old English cyrnel, from Proto-West Germanic *kurnil, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *kurną (“seed, grain, corn”), equivalent to corn + -le. Cognate with Yiddish קערנדל (kerndl), Middle Dutch kernel, cornel, Middle High German kornel. Related also to Old Norse kjarni (“kernel”).

*ǵerh₂- Proto-Indo-European kernel Middle English cyrnel Old English *kurnil Proto-West Germanic *kurną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Plants & Agriculture

External links

# kernel

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈkɝ.nəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkɜː.nəl/
**Frequency rank:** 29903

## Meanings
1. a single whole grain of a cereal
2. the inner and usually edible part of a seed or grain or nut or fruit stone

## Examples
- A kernel of corn.
- Black walnut kernels are difficult to get out of the shell.

## Synonyms
- meat
- crux
- gist
- barleycorn
- marrow
- pith

## Derived Forms
- cokernel
- enkernel
- exokernel
- kernal
- kernelate
- kernelisation
- kernelization
- kernelize
- kernelless
- kernelly
- multikernel
- nanokernel

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *ǵerh₂-
- Root: kernel
- Root: cyrnel
- Root: *kurnil
- Root: *kurną

## Etymology
From Middle English kernel, kirnel, kürnel, from Old English cyrnel, from Proto-West Germanic *kurnil, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *kurną (“seed, grain, corn”), equivalent to corn + -le. Cognate with Yiddish קערנדל (kerndl), Middle Dutch kernel, cornel, Middle High German kornel. Related also to Old Norse kjarni (“kernel”).

## Topics
- Plants & Agriculture

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