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View synonyms for awn

awn

[ awn ]

noun

, Botany.
  1. a bristlelike appendage of a plant, especially on the glumes of grasses.
  2. such appendages collectively, as those forming the beard of wheat, barley, etc.
  3. any similar bristle.


awn

/ ɔːn /

noun

  1. any of the bristles growing from the spikelets of certain grasses, including cereals
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


awn

/ ôn /

  1. A slender, bristlelike appendage found on the spikelets of many grasses.


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Derived Forms

  • awned, adjective
  • ˈawnless, adjective
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Other Words From

  • awned adjective
  • awnless adjective
  • un·awned adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of awn1

1250–1300; Middle English aw ( u ) n, agune, agene, probably < Scandinavian; compare Old Norse ǫgn, Old Danish aghn husk; replacing and cognate with Old English ægnan; cognate with Gothic ahana, Old High German agana ( German Agen, Ahne ), Dutch, Frisian agen; OL agna ear of grain, Czech osina awn; Greek ákaina thorn, bristle, ákhnē chaff (< a pre-Hellenic substratum language); < Indo-European *Haeḱ- sharp
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Word History and Origins

Origin of awn1

Old English agen ear of grain; related to Old Norse ögn chaff, Gothic ahana, Old High German agana, Greek akōn javelin
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Example Sentences

This awn is sensitive to changes in the moisture of the air.

"You go awn and start something—and you'll wisht you hadn't," they heard him croak from the big gate, and chuckled over his wrath.

Go awn and tell him a good, stiff lie, Andy—just to keep him interested while us fellers make a gitaway.

She used to say, "Lawd, chile, you don't know how soovin' it is to jest bust out awn 'casions lake dese!"

Seeds of hermaphrodite flowers quadrangular, crowned by one long awn, and the rudiment of another.

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