Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Grain

Grain

,
Verb.
&
Noun.
See
Groan.
[Obs.]

Grain

(grān)
,
Noun.
[F.
grain
, L.
granum
, grain, seed, small kernel, small particle. See
Corn
, and cf.
Garner
,
Noun.
,
Garnet
,
Gram
the chick-pea,
Granule
,
Kernel.
]
1.
A single small hard seed; a kernel, especially of those plants, like wheat, whose seeds are used for food.
2.
The fruit of certain grasses which furnish the chief food of man, as corn, wheat, rye, oats, etc., or the plants themselves; – used collectively.
Storehouses crammed with
grain.
Shakespeare
3.
Any small, hard particle, as of sand, sugar, salt, etc.; hence, any minute portion or particle;
as, a
grain
of gunpowder, of pollen, of starch, of sense, of wit, etc.
I . . . with a
grain
of manhood well resolved.
Milton.
4.
The unit of the English system of weights; – so called because considered equal to the average of grains taken from the middle of the ears of wheat. 7,000 grains constitute the pound avoirdupois, and 5,760 grains the pound troy. A grain is equal to .0648 gram. See
Gram.
5.
A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to
Tyrian purple
.
All in a robe of darkest
grain.
Milton.
Doing as the dyers do, who, having first dipped their silks in colors of less value, then give’ them the last tincture of crimson in
grain.
Quoted by Coleridge, preface to Aids to Reflection.
6.
The composite particles of any substance; that arrangement of the particles of any body which determines its comparative roughness or hardness; texture;
as, marble, sugar, sandstone, etc., of fine
grain
.
Hard box, and linden of a softer
grain
.
Dryden.
7.
The direction, arrangement, or appearance of the fibers in wood, or of the strata in stone, slate, etc.
Knots, by the conflux of meeting sap,
Infect the sound pine and divert his
grain

Tortive and errant from his course of growth.
Shakespeare
8.
The fiber which forms the substance of wood or of any fibrous material.
9.
The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.
Knight.
10.
pl.
The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called
draff
.
11.
(Bot.)
A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock. See
Grained
,
Adj.
, 4.
12.
Temper; natural disposition; inclination.
[Obs.]
Brothers . . . not united in
grain.
Hayward.
13.
A sort of spice, the grain of paradise.
[Obs.]
He cheweth
grain
and licorice,
To smellen sweet.
Chaucer.
Against the grain
,
against or across the direction of the fibers; hence, against one's wishes or tastes; unwillingly; unpleasantly; reluctantly; with difficulty.
Swift.
Saintsbury.
–
A grain of allowance
,
a slight indulgence or latitude a small allowance.
–
Grain binder
,
an attachment to a harvester for binding the grain into sheaves.
–
Grain colors
,
dyes made from the coccus or kermes insect.
–
Grain leather
.
(a)
Dressed horse hides.
(b)
Goat, seal, and other skins blacked on the grain side for women's shoes, etc.
–
Grain moth
(Zool.)
,
one of several small moths, of the family
Tineidæ
(as
Tinea granella
and
Butalis cerealella
), whose larvæ devour grain in storehouses.
–
Grain side
(Leather)
,
the side of a skin or hide from which the hair has been removed; – opposed to
flesh side.
–
Grains of paradise
,
the seeds of a species of amomum.
–
grain tin
,
crystalline tin ore metallic tin smelted with charcoal.
–
Grain weevil
(Zool.)
,
a small red weevil (
Sitophilus granarius
), which destroys stored wheat and other grain, by eating out the interior.
–
Grain worm
(Zool.)
,
the larva of the grain moth. See
grain moth
, above.
–
In grain
,
of a fast color; deeply seated; fixed; innate; genuine.
“Anguish in grain.”
Herbert.
–
To dye in grain
,
to dye of a fast color by means of the coccus or kermes grain [see
Grain
,
Noun.
, 5]; hence, to dye firmly; also, to dye in the wool, or in the raw material. See under
Dye.

–
To go against the grain of
(a person),
to be repugnant to; to vex, irritate, mortify, or trouble.

Grain

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Grained
(grānd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Graining.
]
1.
To paint in imitation of the grain of wood, marble, etc.
2.
To form (powder, sugar, etc.) into grains.
3.
To take the hair off (skins); to soften and raise the grain of (leather, etc.).

Grain

,
Verb.
I.
[F.
grainer
,
grener.
See
Grain
,
Noun.
]
1.
To yield fruit.
[Obs.]
Gower.
2.
To form grains, or to assume a granular form, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.

Grain

(grān)
,
Noun.
[See
Groin
a part of the body.]
1.
A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant.
[Obs.]
G. Douglas.
2.
A tine, prong, or fork.
Specifically:
(a)
One the branches of a valley or of a river.
(b)
pl.
An iron fish spear or harpoon, having four or more barbed points.
3.
A blade of a sword, knife, etc.
4.
(Founding)
A thin piece of metal, used in a mold to steady a core.

Webster 1828 Edition

Grain

GRAIN

,
Noun.
[L. granum.]
1.
Any small hard mass; as a grain of sand or gravel. Hence,
2.
A single seed or hard seed of a plant, particularly of those kinds whose seeds are used for food of man or beast. This is usually inclosed in a proper shell or covered with a husk,and contains the embryo of a new plant. Hence,
3.
Grain, without a definitive, signifies corn in general, or the fruit of certain plants which constitutes the chief food of man and beast, as wheat, rye, barley, oats and maiz.
4.
A minute particle.
5.
A small weight, or the smallest weight ordinarily used, being the twentieth part of the scruple in apothecaries' weight, and the twenty fourth of a pennyweight troy.
6.
A component part of stones and metals.
7.
The veins or fibers of wood or other fibrous substance; whence, cross-grained, and against the grain.
8.
The body or substance of wood as modified by the fibers.
Hard box, and linden of a softer grain.
9.
The body or substance of a thing considered with respect to the size, form or direction of the constituent particles; as stones of a fine grain.
The tooth of a sea-horse,contains a curdled grain.
10. Any thing proverbially small; a very small particle or portion; as a grain of wit or of common sense.
Neglect not to make use of any grain of grace.
11. Dyed or stained substance.
All in a robe of darkest grain.
12. The direction of the fibers of wood or other fibrous substance; hence the phrase, against the grain, applied to animals, that is, against their natural tempers.
13. The heart or temper; as brothers not united in grain.
14. The form of the surface of any thing with respect to smoothness or roughness; state of the grit of any body composed of grains; as sandstone of a fine grain.
15. A tine, prong or spike.
A grain of allowance, a small allowance or indulgence; a small portion to be remitted; something above or below just weight.
To dye in grain, is to dye in the raw material, as wool or silk before it is manufactured.

GRAIN

,
Verb.
I.
To yield fruit.

GRAIN

, or GRANE, for groan. [Not in use.]

Definition 2024

grain

grain

See also: gráin, gràin, and gräin

English

Mixed grain—the harvested seeds
A close-up of wood grain—texture of material

Noun

grain ‎(countable and uncountable, plural grains)

  1. (uncountable) The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.
    We stored a thousand tons of grain for the winter.
  2. (uncountable) Similar seeds from any food crop, eg buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa.
  3. (countable) A single seed of grass food crops.
    a grain of wheat
    grains of oat
  4. (countable, uncountable) The crops from which grain is harvested.
    The fields were planted with grain.
  5. (uncountable) A linear texture of a material or surface.
    Cut along the grain of the wood.
    He doesn't like to shave against the grain.
  6. (countable) A single particle of a substance.
    a grain of sand
    a grain of salt
  7. (countable) A very small unit of weight, in England equal to 1/480 of an ounce troy, 0.0648 grams or, to be more exact, 64.79891 milligrams (0.002285714 avoirdupois ounce). A carat grain or pearl grain is 1/4 carat or 50 milligrams. The old French grain was 1/9216 livre or 53.11 milligrams, and in the mesures usuelles permitted from 1812 to 1839, with the livre redefined as 500 grams, it was 54.25 milligrams.
  8. (countable) A former unit of gold purity, also known as carat grain, equal to 1⁄4 "carat" (karat).
  9. (materials) A region within a material having a single crystal structure or direction.
  10. A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple.
    • Milton
      all in a robe of darkest grain
    • Quoted by Coleridge, preface to Aids to Reflection
      […] doing as the dyers do, who, having first dipped their silks in colours of less value, then give them the last tincture of crimson in grain.
  11. The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)
  12. (in the plural) The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff.
  13. (botany) A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock.
  14. Temper; natural disposition; inclination.
    • Hayward
      brothers […] not united in grain
Derived terms
Related terms
See also
Translations

Verb

grain ‎(third-person singular simple present grains, present participle graining, simple past and past participle grained)

  1. To feed grain to.
  2. (transitive) To make granular; to form into grains.
  3. (intransitive) To form grains, or to assume a granular form, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.
  4. To texture a surface in imitation of the grain of a substance such as wood.
  5. (tanning) To remove the hair or fat from a skin.
  6. (tanning) To soften leather.
  7. To yield fruit.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Gower to this entry?)
Translations

Etymology 2

See groin ‎(“part of the body”).

Noun

grain ‎(plural grains)

  1. A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of G. Douglas to this entry?)
  2. A tine, prong, or fork.
    1. One of the branches of a valley or river.
    2. An iron fish spear or harpoon, with a number of points half-barbed inwardly.
      • 1770: Served 5 lb of fish per man which was caught by striking with grains — journal of Stephen Forwood (gunner on H.M. Bark Endeavour), 4 May 1770, quoted by Parkin (page 195).
    3. A blade of a sword, knife, etc.
  3. (founding) A thin piece of metal, used in a mould to steady a core.

Anagrams

French

Etymology 1

From Middle French, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm.

Pronunciation

Noun

grain m ‎(plural grains)

  1. grain
  2. (figuratively) a small amount, a bit
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡʁɛ̃/

Noun

grain m ‎(plural grains)

  1. (nautical) squall, thunderstorm

Anagrams

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin grānum.

Noun

grain m ‎(oblique plural grainz, nominative singular grainz, nominative plural grain)

  1. grain (edible part of a cereal plant)
    • circa 1120, Philippe de Taon, Bestiaire, line 421:
      E quant grain ad truved de tuz maneres de bled
      When it [the ant] found grain of all manners of wheat

Descendants

Etymology

From Middle English grayn, greyn, grein, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum ‎(“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm ‎(“grain”). Compare English corn.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡɹeɪn/
  • Rhymes: -eɪn

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