grain
English
![](Images/wiktionary/Assorted_grains.jpg.webp)
![](Images/wiktionary/Buche_Holz_1.jpg.webp)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɡɹeɪn/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -eɪn
Etymology 1
From Middle English greyn, grayn, grein, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain”). Compare English corn. Doublet of gram.
Noun
grain (countable and uncountable, plural grains)
- (uncountable) The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.
- We stored a thousand tons of grain for the winter.
- (uncountable) Similar seeds from any food crop, e.g., buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa.
- (countable) A single seed of grass food crops.
- a grain of wheat
- grains of oat
- (countable, uncountable) The crops from which grain is harvested.
- The fields were planted with grain.
- (uncountable) A linear texture of a material or surface.
- Cut along the grain of the wood.
- He doesn't like to shave against the grain.
- (countable) A single particle of a substance.
- a grain of sand
- a grain of salt
- (countable) Any of various small units of mass originally notionally based on grain's weight, variously standardized at different places and times, including
- The English grain of 1⁄5760 troy pound or 1⁄7000 pound avoirdupois, now exactly 64.79891 mg.
- The metric, carat, or pearl grain of 1⁄4 carat used for measuring precious stones and pearls, now exactly 50 mg.
- (historical) The French grain of 1⁄9216 livre, equivalent to 53.11 mg at metricization and equal to exactly 54.25 mg from 1812–1839 as part of the mesures usuelles.
- (countable, chiefly historical) Any of various small units of length originally notionally based on a grain's width, variously standardized at different places and times.
- (countable, historical) The carat grain of 1⁄4 carat as a measure of gold purity, creating a 96-point scale between 0% and 100% purity.
- (materials) A region within a material having a single crystal structure or direction.
- (astronautics) The solid piece of fuel in an individual solid-fuel rocket engine.
- A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple.
- 1646 (indicated as 1645), John Milton, “Penseroso”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], OCLC 606951673:
- all in a robe of darkest grain
- a. 1825, Quoted by Coleridge, preface to Aids to Reflection:
- […] doing as the dyers do, who, having first dipped their silks in colours of less value, then give them the last tincture of crimson in grain.
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- The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.
- 1773, Royal Dublin Society, The Art of Tanning and of Currying Leather:
- The grain of the leather is also sometimes damaged by the filling , by the taking off the hair , and by the river work.
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- (in the plural) The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff.
- (botany) A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock.
- Temper; natural disposition; inclination.
- a. 1628 (date written), John Hayward, The Life, and Raigne of King Edward the Sixt, London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press, and J. Lichfield at Oxford?] for Iohn Partridge, […], published 1630, OCLC 1287143827:
- brothers […] not united in grain
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- (photography, videography) Visual texture in processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons.
Derived terms
- against the grain
- grain of salt
- grainy
- grip grain
- wholegrain
Related terms
- coarse-grained
- fine-grained
- grains of paradise
- granary
- granular
- granularity
- granulate
- granulation
- grosgrain
- guinea grains
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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See also
- cereal
- Appendix:Grains – translation tables for various grains
Verb
grain (third-person singular simple present grains, present participle graining, simple past and past participle grained)
- To feed grain to.
- (transitive) To make granular; to form into grains.
- (intransitive) To form grains, or to assume a granular form, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.
- To texture a surface in imitation of the grain of a substance such as wood.
- (tanning) To remove the hair or fat from a skin.
- (tanning) To soften leather.
- To yield fruit.
Translations
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Etymology 2
From Middle English grayn, from Old Norse grein.
Noun
grain (plural grains)
- A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant.
- A tine, prong, or fork.
- One of the branches of a valley or river.
- An iron fish spear or harpoon, with a number of points half-barbed inwardly.
- 4 May 1770, Stephen Forwood (gunner on H.M. Bark Endeavour), journal (quoted by Parkin (page 195)
- Served 5 lb of fish per man which was caught by striking with grains
- 4 May 1770, Stephen Forwood (gunner on H.M. Bark Endeavour), journal (quoted by Parkin (page 195)
- A blade of a sword, knife, etc.
- (founding) A thin piece of metal, used in a mould to steady a core.
Further reading
- grain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- grain in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
Anagrams
- A ring, IgNAR, Ngari, Nigra, Ragin, Rigan, agrin, nigra, raign, raing
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɡʁɛ̃/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɛ̃
Etymology 1
From Middle French, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm.
Noun
grain m (plural grains)
- grain
- (figurative) a small amount, a bit
Derived terms
- avoir un grain
- grain de beauté
- gros-grain
- mettre son grain de sel
- ramener son grain de sel
- séparer le bon grain de l'ivraie
- veiller au grain
Related terms
- grenier
Etymology 2
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
grain m (plural grains)
- (nautical) squall, thunderstorm
Derived terms
- avoir un grain
Further reading
- “grain”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- garni
Middle English
Verb
grain
- Alternative form of greynen
Old French
Alternative forms
- grein
Etymology
From Latin grānum.
Noun
grain m (oblique plural grainz, nominative singular grainz, nominative plural grain)
- grain (edible part of a cereal plant)
- circa 1120, Philippe de Taon, Bestiaire, line 421:
- E quant grain ad truved de tuz maneres de bled
- When it [the ant] found grain of all manners of wheat
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Related terms
- grenier / guernier
Descendants
- Middle French: grain
- French: grain
- → Middle English: greyn, grayn, grayne, grein, greyne, grone
- English: grain
- Scots: grain
- Yola: gryne
Scots
Alternative forms
- grane, grayne, graine
Etymology
From Middle English grayn, greyn, grein, from Old Norse grein (“branch, twig”), from Proto-Germanic *grainiz (“branch”).
Noun
grain (plural grains)
- (of a tree) A branch or bough.
- (of a plant) A stalk.
- (of a fork or trident) A prong.
- An offshoot, branch, or member of anything
- (of a cross) An arm.
- (of a family or surname) A branch.
- A branch of a stream; the arm of a loch.