acorn

Meaning

1. The fruit of the oak, being an oval nut growing in a woody cup or cupule.
2. A cone-shaped piece of wood on the point of the spindle above the vane, on the mast-head.
3. See acorn-shell.
4. (informal) The glans penis.
5. (plural-normally, slang) A testicle.

Synonyms

berry

cowl

dome

fairing

fir cone

nut

pants

pine cone

fruit

false ogive

Translations

ghianda

gland

bellota

Eichel

bolota

gla

eikel

βελανίδι

glans

βαλανίδι

بلوط

palamut

agland

balanus

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈeɪ.kɔɹn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: acorn

Inherited from Old English: æcern

Cognate with Scots: aicorn

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: Äkkene

Cognate with Tokharian B: oko

Cognate with Welsh: eirin

Cognate with Breton: irin

Cognate with Irish: airne

Cognate with Lithuanian: úoga

Cognate with Russian: я́года

In summary

From Middle English acorn, an alteration (after corn) of earlier *akern, from Old English æcern (“acorn, oak-mast”), from Proto-West Germanic *akarn, from Proto-Germanic *akraną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂égrō (“berry”). Cognate with Scots aicorn, Saterland Frisian Äkkene, Dutch aker (“acorn”), German Ecker (“acorn”), Danish agern (“acorn”), Faroese, Icelandic akarn (“acorn”), Norwegian Nynorsk åkorn (“acorn”), Tocharian B oko (“fruit”), Welsh eirin (“plums”), Breton irin (“plum”), Irish airne (“sloe”), Lithuanian úoga, Russian я́года (jágoda, “berry”), etc. Not related to Old English āc (“oak”), corn (“corn, seed”) or Middle English acquerne.