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Definition grain

Etymology 1

From Middle English greyn, grayn, grein, borrowed from Old French grain, grein, from Latin gr?num (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *?r?h?nóm (“grain”). Compare English corn.

Noun

grain (countable and uncountable, plural grains)

1. (uncountable) The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.
2. (uncountable) Similar seeds from any food crop, eg buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa.
3. (countable) A single seed of grass food crops.
4. (countable, uncountable) The crops from which grain is harvested.
5. (uncountable) A linear texture of a material or surface.
6. (countable) A single particle of a substance.
7. (countable) A very small unit of weight, in England equal to 1/480 of an ounce troy, 0.0648 grams or, to be more exact, 64.79891 milligrams (0.002285714 avoirdupois ounce). A carat grain or pearl grain is 1/4 carat or 50 milligrams. The old French grain was 1/9216 livre or 53.11 milligrams, and in the mesures usuelles permitted from 1812 to 1839, with the livre redefined as 500 grams, it was 54.25 milligrams.
8. (countable) A former unit of gold purity, also known as carat grain, equal to ?₄ "carat" (karat).
9. (materials) A region within a material having a single crystal structure or direction.
10. A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple.
11. The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.
12. (in the plural) The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff.
13. (botany) A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock.
14. Temper; natural disposition; inclination.
15. (photography, videography) Visual texture in processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons.