acorn

A1C3O1R1N1
US/ˈeɪ.kɔɹn/US/ˈeɪkɚn/UK/ˈeɪ.kɔːn/

noun

The fruit of the oak, being an oval nut growing in a woody cup or cupule.

OriginMiddle English acorn ← Old English æcern ← Proto-West Germanic *akarn →
Less commonScrabble 7
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Meanings

acorn1

nounacorn (plural acorns)

plural acorns · alternative achorn

  1. The fruit of the oak, being an oval nut growing in a woody cup or cupule.
  2. nauticalA cone-shaped piece of wood on the point of the spindle above the vane, on the mast-head.
  3. biologySee acorn-shell.
  4. informalThe glans penis.

    The Romans, likewise, represented the uncouth Priapus—the god of rustic fertility and sexual assault—as comically well endowed, with his acorn showing.

    2021, A. W. Strouse, Form & Foreskin: Medieval Narratives of Circumcision
  5. plural normallyslangA testicle.

ACORN2

proper noun
  1. USabbreviationacronymAcronym of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ógr̥der.?
  2. Proto-Germanic*akraną
  3. Proto-West Germanic*akarn
  4. Old Englishæcern
  5. Middle Englishcorninflu.
  6. Middle Englishacorn
  7. Englishacorn

Inherited from Middle English acorn, an alteration (after corn) of earlier *akern, from Old English æcern (“acorn, oak-mast”), from Proto-West Germanic *akarn, from Proto-Germanic *akraną (“fruit; acorn, nut”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂égrō (“berry”). Cognates Cognate with Scots aicorn (“acorn”), Dutch aker (“acorn”), German Ecker (“acorn”), Danish agern (“acorn”), Faroese and Icelandic akarn (“acorn”), Norwegian Nynorsk åkorn (“acorn”), Gothic 𐌰𐌺𐍂𐌰𐌽 (akran, “fruit”); Irish airne (“sloe”), Welsh aeron (“berries; small fruits”), eirin (“plums”), Latgalian ūga (“berry”), Latvian oga (“berry”), Lithuanian uoga (“berry”), Belarusian я́гада (jáhada, “berry”), Bulgarian, Russian, and Ukrainian я́года (jáhoda, “berry”), Czech and Slovak jahoda (“strawberry”), Macedonian ја́года (jágoda, “strawberry”), Polish and Slovene jagoda (“berry”), Serbo-Croatian ја̏года, jȁgoda (“strawberry”), Tocharian A and Tocharian B oko (“fruit”). Not related to Old English āc (“oak”), corn (“corn, seed”) or Middle English acquerne.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans akker
  • akkerfruit of the oak tree
Ancient Greek βάλανος
  • βάλανος (bálanos)fruit of the oak tree
Arabic بَلُّوط, بَلُّوطَة
  • بَلُّوط (ballūṭ)fruit of the oak tree
  • بَلُّوطَة (ballūṭa)fruit of the oak tree
Basque ezkur
  • ezkurfruit of the oak tree
Bulgarian жъ́лъд
  • жъ́лъд (žắlăd)fruit of the oak tree
Catalan gla
  • glafruit of the oak tree
Chinese Cantonese 橡子
  • 橡子 (zoeng⁶ zi²)fruit of the oak tree
Chinese Mandarin 橡子, 橡果
  • 橡子 (xiàngzǐ)fruit of the oak tree
  • 橡果 (xiàngguǒ)fruit of the oak tree
Czech žalud
  • žaludfruit of the oak tree
Danish agern
  • agernfruit of the oak tree
Dutch eikel
  • eikelfruit of the oak tree
Esperanto glano
  • glanofruit of the oak tree
Estonian tammetõru
  • tammetõrufruit of the oak tree
Finnish tammenterho
  • tammenterhofruit of the oak tree
French gland
  • glandfruit of the oak tree
German Eichel
  • Eichelfruit of the oak tree
Greek βελανίδι
  • βελανίδι (velanídi)fruit of the oak tree
Hebrew בַּלּוּט
  • בַּלּוּט (balút)fruit of the oak tree
Hindi बाँजफल
  • बाँजफल (bāñjphal)fruit of the oak tree
Hungarian makk
  • makkfruit of the oak tree
Icelandic akarn
  • akarnfruit of the oak tree
Irish dearcán
  • dearcánfruit of the oak tree
Italian ghianda
  • ghiandafruit of the oak tree
Japanese どんぐり, 団栗
  • どんぐり (donguri)fruit of the oak tree
  • 団栗 (donguri)fruit of the oak tree
Korean 도토리
  • 도토리 (dotori)fruit of the oak tree
Latin glans
  • glansfruit of the oak tree
Latvian zīle, ozolzīle
  • zīlefruit of the oak tree
  • ozolzīlefruit of the oak tree
Lithuanian gilė
  • gilėfruit of the oak tree
Māori huaōki
  • huaōkifruit of the oak tree
Norwegian kongle, åkorn
  • konglefruit of the oak tree
  • åkornfruit of the oak tree
Norwegian Bokmål eikenøtt
  • eikenøttfruit of the oak tree
Persian بلوط
  • بلوط (balut)fruit of the oak tree
Polish żołądź
  • żołądźfruit of the oak tree
Portuguese bolota, lande
  • bolotafruit of the oak tree
  • landefruit of the oak tree
Romanian ghindă
  • ghindăfruit of the oak tree
Russian жёлудь
  • жёлудь (žóludʹ)fruit of the oak tree
Scottish Gaelic dearc-dharaich
  • dearc-dharaichfruit of the oak tree
Slovak žaluď
  • žaluďfruit of the oak tree
Spanish bellota, llande
  • bellotafruit of the oak tree
  • llandefruit of the oak tree
  • landefruit of the oak tree
Swedish ekollon
  • ekollonfruit of the oak tree
Tagalog ensina, belyota
  • ensinafruit of the oak tree
  • belyotafruit of the oak tree
Thai ผลต้นโอ๊ก
  • ผลต้นโอ๊ก (pǒn-dtôn-óok)fruit of the oak tree
Turkish palamut, pelit
  • palamutfruit of the oak tree
  • pelitfruit of the oak tree
Ukrainian жо́лудь
  • жо́лудь (žóludʹ)fruit of the oak tree
Vietnamese hạt sồi
  • hạt sồifruit of the oak tree
Welsh mes
  • mesfruit of the oak tree
Yiddish חזיר־ניסל
  • חזיר־ניסל (khazer-nisl)fruit of the oak tree

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

caronnarcoacronRoncacranoraconCornaCarno
Cite this entry
APA

acorn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acorn

MLA

“acorn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acorn. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “acorn,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acorn.

Source: acorn on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.