acorn English · revision 875

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈeɪ.kɔːn/ ''(UK)''; /ˈeɪ.kɔɹn/, /ˈeɪkɚn/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|akern]], [[inh|ang|æcern|t=nut, mast of trees]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) a common Germanic word related to [[non|akarn]] and [[got|𐌰𐌺𐍂𐌰𐌽|tr=akran|t=fruit]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) usually connected with ''*akraz'' “field”, the source of [[acre]], as “fruit of the open land”.^(Etymonline) Random House finds that derivation dubious, and Merriam-Webster and the AHD relate it to Lithuanian ''uoga'' “berry”.^(RHWU)^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Fruit generally, or the mast of trees (c. 1000), and specifically the fruit of the oak (c. 1000).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense was gradually restricted to the most important of forest produce for feeding pigs, the mast of the oak.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) The regular modern form would be ''*akern'';^(Etymonline) the spelling ''acorn'' arose in the 15th and 16th centuries by folk etymology, the word being taken as a compound of ''oak'' and [[corn]] “kernel”, neither of which is related.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) The OED's first quotation for the proverb ''great oaks from little acorns grow'', in some form, is from 1584.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – fruit of trees; the oak's fruit.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 15th–16th centuries – the spelling ''acorn''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580 – an object shaped like an acorn.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1937 – ''acorn squash''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The fruit of an [[oak]], a single-seeded nut set in a woody, cup-shaped base.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An ornament or knob shaped like an acorn.^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[acorned]]

+ * [[acorn woodpecker]]

+ * [[acorn squash]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[oak]]

+ * [[acre]]

+ * [[mast]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}