acorn

noun

ˈā-ˌkȯrn How to pronounce acorn (audio) -kərn How to pronounce acorn (audio)
: the nut of the oak usually seated in or surrounded by a hard woody cupule of indurated bracts

Illustration of acorn

Illustration of acorn

Examples of acorn in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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An earthy set of initial aromas—moist soil, soy, acorns and walnuts and black berries. — Tom Mullen, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2025 These included acorns, cereals, legumes and aquatic plants. — Newsweek, 8 Jan. 2025 Nature's winter forecast:From hedge apples to acorns, what to look for in nature to predict winter weather Do woolly bear caterpillars forecast winter weather? — Chad Murphy, The Enquirer, 31 Oct. 2024 Red foxes tend to eat more meat, while gray foxes eat meat but also more plant materials such as acorns or beechnuts, says Owen. — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 4 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for acorn

Word History

Etymology

Middle English akorn, akkorn (partially assimilated to corn "kernel, corn entry 1"), hakerne, accherne, accharne, going back to Old English æcern, going back to Germanic *akrana- (whence also Middle High German ackeran "tree nuts," Old Norse akarn, Gothic akran "fruit, produce"); akin to Old Irish írne "sloe, kernel," Welsh eirin "plums, sloes," aeron "fruits, berries," going back to Celtic *agrinyo-, *agranyo-; perhaps further akin to a Balto-Slavic word with an initial long vowel (Old Church Slavic agoda "fruit," Polish jagoda "berry," Lithuanian úoga)

Note: Taken to be a derivative of Indo-European *h2eǵros "uncultivated field, pasture" (see acre), though this would seem to exclude the Balto-Slavic etymon, which lacks the suffix, from consideration. It is also not clear if fields, uncultivated or not, are the source of wild tree nuts.

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of acorn was before the 12th century

Phrases Containing acorn

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Acopa
acorn
acorn barnacle
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Cite this Entry

“Acorn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acorn. Accessed 30 Mar. 2025.

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Kids Definition

acorn

noun
ˈā-ˌkȯrn How to pronounce acorn (audio) -kərn How to pronounce acorn (audio)
: the roundish one-seeded thin-shelled nut of an oak tree usually having a woody cap

More from Merriam-Webster on acorn

Nglish: Translation of acorn for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about acorn

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