Ear

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɪə̯/

Definitions

1. The body part on the head that detects sound ; the part of a cereal plant containing the grains ; a protruding handle on an object for holding or carrying
2. An organ used for hearing sounds and maintaining balance ; the seed cluster at the top of plants like corn or wheat ; a small curved extension designed to grasp or lift an item
3. The external or internal structure that receives and processes sound waves ; the flowering spike that holds cereal seeds ; a functional appendage attached to vessels or containers to aid in handling

Etymology: The organ you hear with and the cereal spike you eat share a name, but they come from two different Proto-Indo-European roots. The hearing organ descends from a root meaning "to perceive," and its ancestors sit in a large family of words: Latin "auris," Greek "aftí," Old Irish "áu," Sanskrit "uṣas" for the outer passage of the ear, and Persian "hōš," meaning intellect or understanding. In that family, the ear is closely tied to the faculty of perceiving and understanding, not just to a body part. In Old English the word was "ēare," which passed into Middle English as "ere" and then the modern form. Its closest relatives are the Germanic words for the same organ, such as German "Ohr," Dutch "oor," and Swedish "öra," all tracing back to a shared Proto-Germanic form "ausô." The grain-ear is a separate word. It descends from a Proto-Indo-European root for a sharp or pointed thing, and reached English as Old English "ēar," the same spelling as the body part, which is why the two became homonyms.

Synonyms: auditory organ, hearing organ, listening organ