grain
The harvested seeds of various grass food crops, especially wheat, maize, rye, barley,…The harvested seeds of various grass food crops, especially wheat, maize, rye, barley, and rice.
» We import grain from Canada every year.
Ежегодно мы импортируем зерно из Канады.
Щороку ми імпортуємо зерно з Канади.
Meaning
31 senses(uncountable)The harvested seeds of various grass food crops, especially wheat, maize, rye, barley, and rice.
Near-synonym: corn (broad sense, maize and others)
We stored a thousand tons of grain for the winter.
Korn, Getreide
зерно́zernó, жи́тоžíto
зерно́zernó, збі́жжяzbížžja, жи́тоžýto
(uncountable)Similar seeds from any food crop, e.g., buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa.
Near-synonym: corn (broad sense, maize and others)
(countable)A single seed of a food crop, especially a cereal grass crop.
a grain of wheat
grains of oat
Körnchen, Korn
зерно́zernó, зёрнышкоzjórnyško
a cereal grass
(countable, uncountable)The crops from which grain is harvested.
The fields were planted with grain.
Getreide
зерновы́еzernovýje, зла́киzláki
(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.
Maserung
зерни́стостьzernístostʹ, грануля́цияgranuljácija
(countable)A single particle of a substance.
a grain of sand
a grain of salt
Körnchen
зёрнышкоzjórnyško, крупи́нкаkrupínka, крупи́цаkrupíca
крупи́нкаkrupýnka, части́нкаčastýnka, дрі́бкаdríbka
a relatively small granular particle of a substance
Any of various small units of mass originally notionally based on grain's weight, variously standardized at different places and times, including
(countable, uncountable)The English grain of ¹⁄₅₇₆₀ troy pound or ¹⁄₇₀₀₀ pound avoirdupois, now exactly 64.79891 mg.
1/7000 pound; equals a troy grain or 64.799 milligrams
(countable, uncountable)The metric, carat, or pearl grain of ¹⁄₄ carat used for measuring precious stones and pearls, now exactly 50 mg.
a weight unit used for pearls or diamonds: 50 mg or 1/4 carat
(countable, historical, uncountable)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, 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.
(countable, uncountable)A region within a material having a single crystal structure or direction.
Examples
170 sentencesWe import grain from Canada every year.
Щороку ми імпортуємо зерно з Канади.
ruЕжегодно мы импортируем зерно из Канады.
Tom doesn't feed grain to his cows.
It's better to feed wild ducks grain than bread.
He deals in grain.
Tom deals in grain.
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 2
By meaning 6
By meaning 4
Origin
From Middle English greyn, grayn, grein, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum (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.
From Middle English grayn, from Old Norse grein (“bough, branch”), from Proto-Germanic *grainiz (“branch, twig, ramification”), of unknown origin. Related to English grove (“thicket”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: grainsSynonyms
9 synonyms- foodstuff prepared from the starchy grains of cereal grasses:food graincereal
- dry seed-like fruit produced by the cereal grasses: e.g. wheat, barley, Indian corn:caryopsis
- a weight unit used for pearls or diamonds: 50 mg or 1/4 carat:metric grain
- the physical composition of something (especially with respect to the size and shape of the small constituents of a substance):texture
Word family
76 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable