Barleycorn

¹ American  

[bahr-lee-kawrn] / ˈbɑr liˌkɔrn /

noun

1. John. John Barleycorn.

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barleycorn ² 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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of barleycorn

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English; 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 Literature

Another version runs thus: Snail, snail, put out your horns, I'll give you bread and barleycorns.

From Project Gutenberg

The declination of a magnetick needle above a terrella is shown by means of several equal iron wires, of the length of a barleycorn, arranged along a meridian.

From Project Gutenberg

Michael would have been perfectly content to believe that it meant 'whole barleycorns,' until Mr. Cray suggested that it might be equivalent to the Latin 'mola,' meaning 'grain coarsely ground.'

From Project Gutenberg

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 Project Gutenberg