awn

[ awn ]

/ ɔn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR awn ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Botany.

a bristlelike appendage of a plant, especially on the glumes of grasses.

such appendages collectively, as those forming the beard of wheat, barley, etc.

any similar bristle.

Nearby words

awl snail, awl-shaped, awless, awlwort, awmous, awn, awner, awning, awning deck, awning window, awnless bromegrass

Origin of awn

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

Related formsawned, adjectiveawn·less, adjectiveun·awned, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for awn

Dat's a pow'ful good-lookin' suit o' clo'es what L'tenant Greenfeel got awn.
Kincaid's Battery|George W. Cable
The little I have is free, and I can call it my awn—hame's hame, let it be never so hamely.
The History of John Bull|John Arbuthnot
My husband be gwaine to take this matter into his awn hands now.
Children of the Mist|Eden Phillpotts
Aws ut wuz in th' beginnin', uz now awn ever shawl be, worl' wi'out end—Aamen!
Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Vol. 2 of 14|Elbert Hubbard

Beard is sometimes used for awn, more commonly for long or stiff hairs of any sort.
The Elements of Botany|Asa Gray

British Dictionary definitions for awn

awn

/ (ɔːn) /

noun

any of the bristles growing from the spikelets of certain grasses, including cereals

Derived Formsawned, adjectiveawnless, adjective

Word Origin for awn

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

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

Word Origin and History for awn

awn

"bristly fibers on grain of plants," c.1300, from Old Norse ögn, from Proto-Germanic *agano (cf. Old English egenu, Old High German agana, German Ahne, Gothic ahana), from PIE *ak-ona- (cf. Sanskrit asani- "arrowhead," Greek akhne "husk of wheat," Latin acus "chaff," Lithuanian akuotas "beard, awn"); suffixed form of PIE root *ak- "sharp" (see acrid).

Science definitions for awn

awn

[ ôn ]

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