Words / B1

KORN/kɔːn/

In British English, corn in everyday food talk is usually maize: sweetcorn; corn on the cob; cornflakes. Wheat, barley, and oats are named separately; American English often uses corn for maize and grain more loosely. A field of corn in a UK textbook is likely maize, not wheat. Do not write “corns” for the food — corn is uncountable (except a corn on the foot, a different medical meaning).

Meaning

Maize; a tall plant with yellow grains that people eat as a vegetable or food.

Examples

• “We had sweetcorn with dinner.”
• “Sweetcorn is cheaper in late summer at the market.”
• “The farm grows corn for animal feed as well as for the shops.”

Good to know

UK food: maize / sweetcorn / corn on the cob. Not wheat (name wheat separately). Uncountable as food. US usage differs.

Near in meaning

maize, sweetcorn

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