kernel

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noun ker·nel \ˈkər-n^əl\

: the small, somewhat soft part inside a seed or nut

: a whole seed; especially : one of the yellow seeds that cover an ear of corn

: a very small amount of something

Full Definition of KERNEL

1

chiefly dialect :  a fruit seed

2

:  the inner softer part of a seed, fruit stone, or nut

3

:  a whole seed of a cereal <a kernel of corn>

4

:  a central or essential part :  germ <like many stereotypes … this one too contains some kernels of truth — S. M. Lyman>

5

:  a subset of the elements of one set (as a group) that a function (as a homomorphism) maps onto an identity element of another set

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Examples of KERNEL

1. There's not a kernel of truth in what they say.
2. <the kernel of your argument seems to be the inevitability of the division of that nation along ethnic lines>

Origin of KERNEL

Middle English, from Old English cyrnel, diminutive of corn

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to KERNEL

Synonyms

bottom line, bull's-eye, centerpiece, core, essence, gist, heart, crux, keynote, meat, meat and potatoes, net, nub, nubbin, nucleus, pith, pivot, point, root, sum

Related Words

course, direction, drift, tenor; body, content, substance; hypothesis, proposition, purport, subject, theme, thesis

Other Botany Terms

annual, burgeon, chloroplast, nomenclature, succulent, sylvan, xylem

Rhymes with KERNEL

colonel, journal, sternal, vernal