barleycorn

/'bɑ:likɔ:n/

Thân thiện

A barleycorn lies on a wooden table beside a small pile of grain.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A single grain of barley: A barleycorn is an individual seed or grain from the barley plant (Hordeum vulgare), a type of cereal grass.
   • A historical unit of length: Historically, the term "barleycorn" was used as a unit of measurement, where three barleycorns placed end-to-end equaled one inch.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The recipe calls for one cup of pearl barley, which is made from polished barleycorns.
  • In old English law, the inch was formally defined as the length of three barleycorns taken from the middle of the ear.

Advanced Usage

• "John Barleycorn": A personification of barley and the alcoholic beverages (like beer and whisky) made from it, often used in folklore and literature.
  • The old folk song "John Barleycorn" tells the story of the cultivation, death, and transformation of barley into beer.

Variants and Related Words

• Barley (n): The cereal plant itself or its grains collectively.
  • Barley is often used in soups and stews.
• Pearl barley (n): Barley grains that have been polished to remove the outer husk and bran.
• Barley sugar (n): A type of hard, translucent candy originally made with barley water.

Synonyms

• Grain: A general term for the small, hard seeds of food plants like wheat, barley, or rice.
• Kernel: A softer term for the inner, edible part of a seed or grain.

Related Phrases

(This word does not commonly form phrasal verbs.)

Related Idioms

• "Take one's barleycorn": An old, largely obsolete idiom meaning to have a drink of alcoholic liquor.
  • After a long day, the farmers would go to the inn to take their barleycorn.

Học thuật

Noun

1. a grain of barley
2. a grain of barley

Từ đồng nghĩa

• barley