An acorn is a pale oval nut that is the fruit of an oak tree.
acorn in British English
(ˈeɪkɔːn)
noun
the fruit of an oak tree, consisting of a smooth thick-walled nut in a woody scaly cuplike base
Word origin
C16: a variant (through influence of corn) of Old English æcern the fruit of a tree, acorn; related to Gothic akran fruit, yield
acorn in American English
(ˈeɪˌkɔrn)
noun
the fruit of the oak tree; an oak nut
Word origin
ME akorn < OE æcern, nut, mast of trees; akin to Goth akran, ON akarn < IE base *əg-, to grow, fruit: form infl. by assoc. with OE ac, oak + corn, grain
Another alternative is to collect acorns and put them wet in a polythene bag outside.
The Sun (2011)
The idea is that great trees grow from small acorns.
The Sun (2011)
Our only autumnal worry on a picnic was avoiding a bombardment of acorns from surrounding oaks.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
But it remains true that great oaks from little acorns grow.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
From small acorns and all that.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.
The Sun (2013)
From small acorns great oaks grow.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Zimbabwe won by nine runs From little acorns grow gnarled great oaks of despair.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
This is mainly because it cannot eat acorns, and is therefore largely reliant on hazelnuts.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
From little acorns, mighty companies grow.
The Sun (2010)
Those men go to collect acorns like wild beasts; they live like wild beasts.
Paul Preston DOVES OF WAR: Four Women of Spain (2002)
The greys can also eat acorns easily, which reds cannot.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
But what do they say about little acorns...?
The Sun (2012)
In summer it nests in holes in trees, and at present is walking about under oaks and eating acorns.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Oak trees come from acorns.
E. Nesbit The Treasure Seekers (1899)
It puts forth leaves in spring, and last year a thousand volunteers came to collect its acorns at the end of the summer.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
They have been grown from acorns collected from the Major Oak.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The great oaks of the concept continued to grow, as it were, from little acorns.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
On oak trees, the acorns are fully formed, but most of them are not quite ready to drop.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
In other languages
acorn
British English: acorn /ˈeɪkɔːn/ NOUN
An acorn is a pale oval nut that is the fruit of an oak tree.
American English: acorn
Arabic: جَوْزَةُ البَلُّوط
Brazilian Portuguese: bolota fruto da borla
Chinese: 橡果
Croatian: žir
Czech: žalud dub
Danish: agern
Dutch: eikel
European Spanish: bellota
Finnish: terho
French: gland
German: Eichel
Greek: βελανίδι
Italian: ghianda
Japanese: どんぐり
Korean: 도토리
Norwegian: eikenøtt
Polish: żołądź
European Portuguese: bolota
Romanian: ghindă
Russian: желудь
Latin American Spanish: bellota
Swedish: ekollon
Thai: ผลต้นโอ๊ก
Turkish: meşe palamudu
Ukrainian: жолудь
Vietnamese: quả sồi
All related terms of 'acorn'
acorn cup
the woody cuplike base that holds the nut from an oak tree
acorn tube
a small vacuum tube shaped like an acorn
acorn valve
a small electronic valve , approximately acorn-shaped with small closely-spaced electrodes , used in ultrahigh-frequency applications
acorn worm
any of various small burrowing marine animals of the genus Balanoglossus and related genera, having an elongated wormlike body with an acorn-shaped eversible proboscis at the head end: subphylum Hemichordata ( hemichordates )
acorn squash
a kind of winter squash , acorn-shaped with ridged , dark-green skin and sweet , yellow flesh
acorn barnacle
any of various barnacles , such as Balanus balanoides, that live attached to rocks and have a volcano-shaped shell from the top of which protrude feathery food-catching appendages ( cirri )