Dictionary

barleycorn en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɑː(ɹ)liˌkɔː(ɹ)n/ (UK)

Etymology

From barley + corn.

Meanings

1. A grain of barley.
   • The Town Mouse came, and they sat down to a dinner of barleycorns and roots, the latter of which had a distinctly earthy flavour. 1912, V.S. Vernon Jones, Aesop's Fables:
2. (obsolete) The length of such a grain; a unit of length of approximately one third (or sometimes one quarter) of an inch or eight millimetres, still used as a basis for shoe sizes.
   • Then shewed the devil the booke unto the friar, and the friar saw it was an uncut unique of incalculable value; the height of it was half a cubit and the breadth of it the fourth part of a cubit and the thickness of it five barleycorns lacking the space of three horsehairs. 1907, Various, The Wit and Humor of America, Volume IV. (of X.):
   • This trip to Italy has actually enlarged the diameter of my head thirteen barleycorns! 1879, Geo. Alfred Townsend, Bohemian Days:
3. A small groove between two moldings.

Forms

Deriveds

barleycorn sight

Translations (5)

de Gerstenkorn (grain of barley) · nn barleycorn (unit of ⅓ inch (8 mm)) · fo byggkorn (grain of barley) · nb barleycorn (unit of ⅓ inch (8 mm)) · ja バーリーコーン (unit of ⅓ inch (8 mm))