barleycorn
/ˈbɑː(ɹ)liˌkɔː(ɹ)n/ noun
Forms barleycorns
- noun (agriculture) A grain of barley.
- noun (obsolete) The length of such a grain; a unit of length of approximately one third (or sometimes one quarter) of an inch or eight millimetres, still used as a basis for shoe sizes.
- noun (architecture, woodworking) A small groove between two moldings.
Synonyms
Etymology
From barley + corn.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A grain or "corn" of barley.
- noun Formerly , a measure of length, equal to the average length of a grain of barley; the third part of an inch. John Barleycorn, a humorous personification of barley as the source of malt liquor or whisky.
Etymology [See Corn.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “barleycorn”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details