awn

[awn]

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.

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 awned

Historical Examples of awned

All of them may be awned as in Chloris or only the fourth glume as in Andropogon.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses
Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
Agropyrum repens is also often awned and may be described here (see also p. 150).
Grasses
H. Marshall Ward
Stamens 10; anthers 2-celled, awned on the back, opening lengthwise.
The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States
Asa Gray
Awned or Awn-pointed, furnished with an awn or long bristle-shaped tip, 54.
The Elements of Botany
Asa Gray
It is doubtful whether these should not be regarded as awned: if so they come near Nardus—see p. 130.
Grasses
H. Marshall Ward

British Dictionary definitions for awned

awn

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 awned

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).

awned in Science

awn

[ôn]

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