Cornhusk

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The dried or green leafy sheath that wraps around an ear of corn and protects the kernels
2. The papery or fibrous outer layers that enclose the cob and kernels of maize
3. The husk or dried leaf-like covering that surrounds an ear of corn on the stalk

Etymology: Cornhusk is a plain compound: "corn" joined to "husk," the dry outer covering that wraps an ear of maize. The "corn" half needs a note, since in British usage it has long meant grain in general, typically wheat in England or oats in Scotland, while in American English it has meant maize since colonial times. The compound therefore records a transatlantic difference: a cornhusk is the sheath around maize, the grain that English speakers in Britain would simply have called corn. "Husk" itself is an older English word for the dry outer layer of a seed or fruit, and attaching it to "corn" produced a term for the specific covering of a plant that Europeans encountered in the Americas. The word works the same way as other English compounds that pair a general grain word with a specific part, such as "wheat germ" or "barley awn," so its meaning can be read directly from its parts.

Synonyms: corn shuck, husk