acorn

== English == === Alternative forms === achorn (Chester) === Etymology === From Middle English acorn, an alteration (after corn) of earlier *akern, from Old English æcern (“acorn, oak-mast”), from Proto-West Germanic *akarn, from Proto-Germanic *akraną (“fruit; acorn, nut”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂égrō (“berry”). === Pronunciation === (General American) IPA(key): /ˈeɪ.kɔɹn/, /ˈeɪkɚn/ (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈeɪ.kɔːn/ Rhymes: -eɪkɔː(ɹ)n, -eɪkə(ɹ)n === Noun === acorn (plural acorns) The fruit of the oak, being an oval nut growing in a woody cup or cupule. (nautical) A cone-shaped piece of wood on the point of the spindle above the vane, on the mast-head. (zoology) See acorn-shell. (informal) The glans penis. (slang, usually in the plural) A testicle. ==== Holonyms ==== (fruit of an oak): oak ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== References ==== (glans penis): Tony Thorne (2014), “acorn”, in Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, 4th edition, London; […]: Bloomsbury === See also === acorn on Wikipedia.Wikipedia === Anagrams === Carno, Coran, Corna, acron, caron, coran, narco, narco-, racon == Middle English == === Alternative forms === accorn, accorne, acorne, acurne, acre, akire, akkorn, akorn, hakern ocorn (Promptorium Parvulorum); acharn, accharne, accherne (Southern, West Midland) === Etymology === From Old English æcern, from Proto-West Germanic *akran, from Proto-Germanic *akraną. The last element of this word is often remodelled on corn, while the variant ocorn in turn shows remodelling of the first element on ok (“oak”); this perhaps represents Northern influence, as forms such as acorn could there be interpreted as Northern Middle English ak (“oak”) +‎ corn. Meanwhile, forms without /n/ might represent either simplification of /rn/ or reinterpretation of /n/ as the plural suffix -en. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈakər(n)/, /ˈaːkər(n)/ IPA(key): /ˈaːˌkoːrn/, /ˈaˌkoːrn/, /-ˌkɔrn/ (remodelled on corn) IPA(key): /ˈat͡ʃərn/ (Southern, West Midland) === Noun === acorn An acorn (oak fruit) or similar fruit. ==== Descendants ==== English: acorn Middle Scots: accorne, akcorne Scots: aicorn ==== References ==== “ā̆korn, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.