Etymology From Middle English greyn, grayn, grein, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain”). Doublet of corn, gram, granum, and grao.
The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.
We stored a thousand tons of grain for the winter.
2
Similar seeds from any food crop, e.g., buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa.
3
A single seed of grass food crops.
a grain of wheat
grains of oat
4
The crops from which grain is harvested.
The fields were planted with grain.
A grain, which in England is generally given to horſes, but which in Scotland ſupports the people.1755 April 15, Samuel Johnson, “Oats”, in A Dictionary of the English Language: […], volume II (L–Z), London: […] J[ohn] and P[aul] Knapton; […], →OCLC, column 1:
5
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
A single particle of a substance.
a grain of sand
a grain of salt
› Any of various small units of mass…
7
The English grain of ¹⁄₅₇₆₀ troy pound or ¹⁄₇₀₀₀ pound avoirdupois, now exactly 64.79891 mg.
8
The metric, carat, or pearl grain of ¹⁄₄ carat used for measuring precious stones and pearls, now exactly 50 mg.
9
Historical The French grain of ¹⁄₉₂₁₆ livre, equivalent to 53.11 mg at metricization and equal to exactly 54.25 mg from 1812–1839 as part of the mesures usuelles.
10
Historical Any of various small units of length originally notionally based on a grain's width, variously standardized at different places and times.
11
Historical The carat grain of ¹⁄₄ carat as a measure of gold purity, creating a 96-point scale between 0% and 100% purity.
12
A region within a material having a single crystal structure or direction.
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 grain1646 (indicated as 1645), John Milton, “Penseroso”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], →OCLC:
[…] 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.a. 1825, Quoted by Coleridge, preface to Aids to Reflection
15
The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.
The grain of the leather is also sometimes damaged by the filling , by the taking off the hair , and by the river work.1773, Royal Dublin Society, The Art of Tanning and of Currying Leather:
16
In plural The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum.
17
Biology, Botany, Natural sciences A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock.
18
Temper; natural disposition; inclination.
brothers […] not united in graina. 1628 (date written), John Hayward, The Life, and Raigne of King Edward the Sixt, London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press, and J. Lichfield at Oxford?] for Iohn Partridge, […], published 1630, →OCLC:
19
Arts, Broadcasting, Film, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Media, Photography, Television, Videography Visual texture in processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons.
20
A tiny fragment of a digital audio recording, used in granular synthesis to create new sounds or textures.
Etymology From Middle English greyn, grayn, grein, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain”). Doublet of corn, gram, granum, and grao.
He said that no man loved his horses, unless his own hands grained them. Every Christmas he gave them brimming measures.1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or The Ambiguities:
2
To make granular; to form into grains.
3
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.
Etymology From Middle English grayn, from Old Norse grein (“bough, branch”), from Proto-Germanic *grainiz (“branch, twig, ramification”), of unknown origin. Related to English grove (“thicket”).
A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant; an offshoot.
› A tine, prong, or fork.
2
One of the branches of a valley or river.
3
An iron fish spear or harpoon, with a number of points half-barbed inwardly.
Served 5 lb of fish per man which was caught by striking with grains4 May 1770, Stephen Forwood (gunner on H.M. Bark Endeavour), journal (quoted by Parkin (page 195)
4
A blade of a sword, knife, etc.
5
An arm of a cross.
6
A thin piece of metal, used in a mould to steady a core.
7
Dialectal A branch or arm of a stream, inlet, or sea.