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Corn?!?!?!?!? I thought that was brought over from the [New World]?. Can someone confirm this?


In older English usage, "corn" meant any kind of grain. Most often wheat, but sometimes other grains, and sometimes non-food items of about the same size and shape as a grain of wheat. This usage was perhaps still common at the time of the 1911 encyclopedia (though i think it remained in use longer in England than North America). I think this usage is now almost dead, except that classical scholars seem to use it still. In this case we can be sure that one of the old-world grain crops is meant. Most likely some kind of wheat, but perhaps barley, millet, rye, or one of the older grain crops that is no longer grown.

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Last edited September 30, 2001 10:24 pm by 203.37.81.xxx (diff)
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