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

See Examples For:

barleycorn Barleycorn

“That should buy you a bushel o’ barleycorn.

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

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

And, my brethren, what merit is gathered by hiding the truth from an old man, for such concealments are separated from falsehoods but by the length of a single barleycorn.

From Ayesha, the Return of She by Henry Rider Haggard

But, because wheat or barley generally means that sort of grain in mass, if he will mention a single kernel, he must call it a grain of wheat or a barleycorn.

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown

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 H. C. (Hans Christian) Andersen

I started reading it and on page one the characters are all singing "Barleycorn" by Johnny Flynn.

From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2022

The New York Times took a cheekier approach with its front page headline: “John Barleycorn Died Peacefully at the Toll of 12.”

From New York Times ● Jan. 1, 2020

Chicago bars using facial detection software Need to know how crowded John Barleycorn is right now?

From Chicago Tribune ● Nov. 16, 2011

John Barleycorn, meanwhile, is tortured, killed and resuscitated, but in this parable of the agricultural cycle, it seems to me he is something of a straw man.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 8, 2010

Jon smelled Tom Barleycorn before he saw him.

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