ACORN

:This article is about the seed; for other meanings of the word, see acorn (disambiguation).

Etymology

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word acorn (earlier akerne, and acharn) is derived from a Common Germanic word cognate with the word "acre," and related to corresponding words in other Germanic languages such as Gothic akran, German Eicher, etc., and which had the sense of "fruit of the unenclosed land." The word was applied to the most important forest produce, that of the oak. Chaucer spoke of "achornes of okes". By degrees, popular etymology connected the word both with "corn" and "oak-horn", and the spelling changed accordingly.

Related Topics:
Oxford English Dictionary - Common Germanic - Gothic - Eicher - Chaucer - Etymology

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By analogy with the shape, in nautical language, the word acorn also refers to a piece of wood keeping the vane on the mast-head.

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