English
kernel
Kernel comes from Old English cyrnel ‘a kernel’, from Proto-Germanic *kurną ‘seed, grain, corn’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵr̥h₂nóm‘grain’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kurną‘seed, grain, corn’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kurnil‘kernel of a nut’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150cyrnel‘a kernel’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500kernel
- Englishearliest quotation 1916kernel
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵr̥h₂nóm‘grain’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kurną‘seed, grain, corn’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kurnil‘kernel of a nut’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150cyrnel‘a kernel’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500kernel
- Englishearliest quotation 1916kernel
Earliest quotation: 1916, Gilbert N. Lewis, The Atom and The Molecule: “1. In every atom is an essential kernel which…”
Formed from corn + -le
Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm ‘grain’
Proto-Germanic *kurną ‘corn, grain, cereal’
Proto-West Germanic *korn ‘corn, grain, cereal’
Old English corn ‘corn, a grain or seed’
Middle English corn ‘any plant that bears grain, especially wheat’
English corn
The story
Related also to Old Norse kjarni (‘kernel’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵerh₂- ‘to grow old, to mature’
carl, karl, garnet, geriatrics, churlish, 13 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm ‘grain’
grain, granite, gram, grange, granular, corny, garner, granary, grenadier, granule, 9 more
through Proto-Germanic *kurną ‘seed, grain, corn’
Today it means
noun The core, center, or essence of an object or system.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm / kernel