Maize

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /meɪz/

Definitions

1. A cereal plant cultivated primarily for its edible kernels, it serves as a staple food source and is utilized for animal feed and various food products
2. This plant, recognized by its tall stalks and large ears of grains, is extensively grown for its nutritional value and economic importance in agriculture
3. A tall annual grass that produces ears of grain commonly used as a staple food and livestock feed, it plays a significant economic role in farming practices

Etymology: Europeans encountered this plant in the Caribbean, where the Taíno people called it "mahis," and the word travelled into English through Spanish "maíz." The Spanish form was itself borrowed from Taíno, and the Taíno word is traced back to a much older root in Proto-Arawak, the ancestral language of a large family of South American and Caribbean languages. Related words survive in Lokono and Wayuu, languages still spoken in northern South America, which shows how far the root spread across the region. The English word therefore carries a Caribbean name, not a European one. Early English speakers often used "maize" for grain in general, a sense that narrowed over time as the plant became the crop the word now names. The plant itself was a New World discovery, so the word's journey runs in the opposite direction from most of the English vocabulary that came in through Latin and French.

Synonyms: corn