awn

[ awn ]

/ ɔn /

SEE 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.

Words nearby awn

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

OTHER WORDS FROM awn

awned, 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 forms of awn

awned, 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

Scientific definitions for awn

awn

[ ôn ]

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