: the nut of the oak usually seated in or surrounded by a hard woody cupule of indurated bracts

Illustration of acorn

Illustration of acorn

Examples of acorn in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web To 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 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

Dictionary Entries Near acorn

Cite this Entry

“Acorn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acorn. Accessed 31 May. 2024.

Kids Definition

: the roundish one-seeded thin-shelled nut of an oak tree usually having a woody cap

More from Merriam-Webster on acorn

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