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

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

The results showed how the root structure has radically changed during the domestication of teosinte to cultivated maize.

From Science Daily • May 22, 2024

Farmers in southwest Mexico began to select the progeny of teosinte plants that produced the most grains, and the tastiest grains, more than 9,000 years ago.

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

An entire ear of teosinte has less nutritional value than a single kernel of modern maize.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann