Etymograph

English

grain

Grain comes from Middle English greyn ‘a grain’, from Latin grānum ‘seed’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵerh₂- ‘to grow old, to mature’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵerh₂-‘to grow old, to mature’root as named
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵr̥h₂nómreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*grānomreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrānum‘seed’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400grain
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500greyn‘a grain’
  7. Englishearliest quotation a. 1628grain

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵerh₂-‘to grow old, to mature’root as named
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵr̥h₂nómreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*grānomreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgrānum‘seed’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400grain
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500greyn‘a grain’
  7. Englishearliest quotation a. 1628grain

Earliest quotation: a. 1628, John Hayward, The Life: “brothers […] not united in grain”.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵerh₂- ‘to grow old, to mature’

carl, karl, corny, garnet, geriatrics, churlish, 12 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm

corn, kernel, kern, 8 more

through Latin grānum ‘seed’

garner, granite, gram, granger, grange, granular, grenadier, granary, granule, 5 more

Another origin of grain

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grainiz‘branch, twig, ramification’reconstructed
  2. Old Norsec. 800–1350grein‘bough, branch’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grayn‘a forking channel or pass’
  4. Englishtodaygrain

Today it means

noun The harvested seeds of various grass food crops, especially wheat, maize, rye, barley, and rice.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵerh₂- / grain

Shirt and support for this word