teosinte

American  

[tee-uh-sin-tee, tey-] / ˌti əˈsɪn ti, ˌteɪ- /

noun

1. a tall grass, Zea mexicana, of Mexico and Central America, closely related to corn, and sometimes cultivated as a fodder plant.

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teosinte British  

/ ˌtiːəʊˈsɪntɪ /

noun

1. a tall Central American annual grass, Euchlaena mexicana, related to maize and grown for forage in the southern US

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Etymology

Origin of teosinte

1875–80; < Mexican Spanish < Nahuatl teōcintli, equivalent to teō ( tl ) god + cintli dried ear of maize

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

teosinte

Corn was born here about 9,000 years ago, when Mesoamerican farmers first started to domesticate the wild grass known as teosinte.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2025

Over the last eight years, the participating research groups have investigated around 9,000 varieties of maize and 170 varieties of teosinte around the world.

From Science Daily ● May 22, 2024

For example, about 9,000 years ago, early Indigenous farmers in current-day Mexico transformed wild teosinte, a type of grass, into the single-stalked, plump corn produced around the world today.

From Salon ● Dec. 14, 2023

The researchers observed that genomic segments from highland teosinte contained fewer harmful mutations than did other parts of the genome.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 30, 2023

That contrast between the immediate virtues of wheat and barley and the difficulties posed by teosinte may have been a significant factor in the differing developments of New World and Eurasian human societies.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond