: the nut of the oak usually seated in or surrounded by a hard woody cupule of indurated bracts
Illustration of acorn
Examples of acorn in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebTo this day, tribal members pick acorns atop the mountains and saguaro cactus fruit below.—Brandon Loomis, The Arizona Republic, 20 May 2024 In November, the Okaloosa Sheriff’s Department came under criticism for its lack of training after a deputy mistook the sound of an acorn hitting his patrol vehicle for a gunshot.—Julie K. Brown, Miami Herald, 10 May 2024 The United States grew from a tiny parochial acorn into a mighty international oak with the greatest human capital in world history.—Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 3 Apr. 2024 The bodycam video later showed the acorn hitting the patrol vehicle before the deputy fired.—Julie K. Brown, Miami Herald, 10 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for acorn
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'acorn.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Middle English akorn, akkorn (partially assimilated to corn "kernel, corn entry 1"), hakerne, accherne, accharne, going back to Old English æcern, going back to Germanic *akrana- (whence also Middle High German ackeran "tree nuts," Old Norse akarn, Gothic akran "fruit, produce"); akin to Old Irish írne "sloe, kernel," Welsh eirin "plums, sloes," aeron "fruits, berries," going back to Celtic *agrinyo-, *agranyo-; perhaps further akin to a Balto-Slavic word with an initial long vowel (Old Church Slavic agoda "fruit," Polish jagoda "berry," Lithuanian úoga)
Note:
Taken to be a derivative of Indo-European *h2eǵros "uncultivated field, pasture" (see acre), though this would seem to exclude the Balto-Slavic etymon, which lacks the suffix, from consideration. It is also not clear if fields, uncultivated or not, are the source of wild tree nuts.
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of acorn was
before the 12th century
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