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Indian corn
Definitions
- 1 Maize. obsolete, uncountable
"But alass! these, when they had maize (yt is, Indean corne) they thought it as good as a feast, and wanted not only for 5. days togeather, but some time 2. or 3. months togeather, and neither had bread nor any kind of corne."
- 2 tall annual cereal grass bearing kernels on large ears: widely cultivated in America in many varieties; the principal cereal in Mexico and Central and South America since pre-Columbian times wordnet
- 3 A variety of maize in which the kernels are variously coloured, rather than being all of the same colour. uncountable
- 4 A variety of candy corn that contains chocolate in addition to honey-based candy. uncountable
Etymology
Before the Columbian Exchange, the English word corn meant any of various cereal grains, with usage much like the word grain is often used today. When maize, a New World crop, was introduced to English-speakers, they called it Indian corn as a natural term for "the kind of corn (grain) that comes from the Indies." Eventually English-speakers in North America came to use the word corn to mean maize when not otherwise specified, and they came to use the term Indian corn to mean a certain fancy type of maize.
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