te·o·sin·te 
(tā′ə-sĭntē, tē′-, tĕ′ō-sēntĕ)
(tā′ə-sĭntē, tē′-, tĕ′ō-sēntĕ)n.
Any of several chiefly annual grasses of the genus Zea of Mexico and Central America that are similar to corn but have multiple ears with small numbers of hard seeds. Corn is thought to have been domesticated from a type of teosinte.
[American Spanish, from Nahuatl teocintli : teōtl, sacred + cintli, dried ear of corn.]