noun
grain
GRAYN/ɡreɪn/
A small hard seed produced by a cereal plant.
Several plump grains of wheat rest beside a ripe cereal ear.
Etymology
Latin granum named a seed or small kernel. The cereal sense preserves that concrete meaning: an individual hard seed of wheat, barley, or a similar food plant.
In context
… These companies don't just trade grain, they own the entire supply chain. From the seeds farmers plant to the ships that deliver grain to your country
More examples
- A single grain of rice sticks to the spoon.
- The mill crushes wheat grains into flour.
- Each barley grain can sprout into a new plant.
Forms
grain · grains
Similar words
- seed
- Includes reproductive structures from many plants, not just cereals.
- kernel
- Can mean a whole cereal seed or a nut's edible interior.