Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun 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.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A grass, Euchlœna luxurians, native in Mexico and Central America, introduced into cultivation in various parts of the world.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A large grass (Euchlæna luxurians) closely related to maize. It is native of Mexico and Central America, but is now cultivated for fodder in the Southern United States and in many warm countries. Called also Guatemala grass.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A group of large grasses of the genus Zea found in Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[American Spanish, from Nahuatl teocintli : teōtl, sacred + cintli, dried ear of corn.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French téosinte, from Spanish teocinte, from Classical Nahuatl teocintli, apparently from teōtl ("god") + cintli ("dried maize").

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Examples

  • In the central highlands, where wild grass called teosinte was first cross-bred into the staff of life some 9,000 years ago, corn is viewed not only as a staple food but as a sacrament of Mesoamerican civilization.

    Jan McGirk: Mexico's Mutant Kernels Ripen After GM Corn Ban Reversed 2010

  • In the central highlands, where wild grass called teosinte was first cross-bred into the staff of life some 9,000 years ago, corn is viewed not only as a staple food but as a sacrament of Mesoamerican civilization.

    Jan McGirk: Mexico's Mutant Kernels Ripen After GM Corn Ban Reversed 2010

  • Corn is believed to have evolved from a minuscule grain called teosinte, slightly bigger than an earwig.

    The Fruit Hunters Adam Leith Gollner 2008

  • Corn is believed to have evolved from a minuscule grain called teosinte, slightly bigger than an earwig.

    The Fruit Hunters Adam Leith Gollner 2008

  • Corn is believed to have evolved from a minuscule grain called teosinte, slightly bigger than an earwig.

    The Fruit Hunters Adam Leith Gollner 2008

  • Maize, known in the United States as “corn” and among biologists as Zea mays, was domesticated in Mexico some 7,000 to 10,000 years ago from a large grass called teosinte Zea mexicana, which grows in open woodlands.

    On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004

  • Maize, known in the United States as “corn” and among biologists as Zea mays, was domesticated in Mexico some 7,000 to 10,000 years ago from a large grass called teosinte Zea mexicana, which grows in open woodlands.

    On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004

  • They pinpointed a particular mutation that happened 23,000 years ago in corn's nearest relative - a short, bushy plant called teosinte , which grows wild in Central America.

    NPR Topics: News 2011

  • They pinpointed a particular mutation that happened 23,000 years ago in corn's nearest relative - a short, bushy plant called teosinte , which grows wild in Central America.

    NPR Topics: News 2011

  • They pinpointed a particular mutation that happened 23,000 years ago in corn's nearest relative - a short, bushy plant called teosinte , which grows wild in Central America.

    NPR Topics: News 2011

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