Jump To:

• barleycorn
  barleycorn

  noun

  barley.
• Barleycorn
  Barleycorn

  noun

  John. John Barleycorn.

barleycorn

¹ American  

[bahr-lee-kawrn] / ˈbɑr liˌkɔrn /

noun

1. barley.

2. a grain of barley.

3. a unit of length equal to 1/3 inch (8.5 millimeters).

4. Also barley corn a type of basket weave that produces an allover geometric pattern.

---

Barleycorn ² American  

[bahr-lee-kawrn] / ˈbɑr liˌkɔrn /

noun

1. John. John Barleycorn.

---

barleycorn British  

/ ˈbɑːlɪˌkɔːn /

noun

1. a grain of barley, or barley itself

2. an obsolete unit of length equal to one third of an inch

---

Etymology

Origin of barleycorn

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English; see origin at barley ¹, corn ¹

Example Sentences

They had cheese and milk from the goats that shared the caves with the singers, even some oats and barleycorn and dried fruit laid by during the long summer.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

“That should buy you a bushel o’ barleycorn.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

A thief said to a mendicant: "Are you not ashamed when you hold forth your hand to every mean fellow for a barleycorn of silver?"

From The Persian Literature, Comprising The Shah Nameh, The Rubaiyat, The Divan, and The Gulistan, Volume 2 by Ross, James

Here is a barleycorn; it is not exactly of the same sort as those which grow in the farmers' fields, and which the chickens eat.

From Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales First Series by Andersen, H. C. (Hans Christian)

"Thank you," said the woman, and she gave the fairy twelve shillings, which was the price of the barleycorn.

From Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen by Andersen, H. C. (Hans Christian)