corn

/ˈkɔːn/

//ˈkɔːn// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"corn" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“corn” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,206 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#5,206
frequency rank, English
4
letters
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any cereal plant (or its grain) that is the main crop or staple of a country or region.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

corn vs CR
0% similar
corn vs cry
50% similar
corn vs cow
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for corn
PropertyValue
Headwordcorn
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkɔːn/
Letters4
Frequency rank#5,206
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “corn” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). corn lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for corn is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkɔːn/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,206 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for corn, with forms such as "ccorn", "conr", and "cornn". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "CR", "cry", "cow", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English corn, from Old English corn, from Proto-West Germanic *korn, from Proto-Germanic *kurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain; worn-down”), from *ǵerh₂- (“grow old, mature”). Cognate with Dutch koren, German Low German Ko… The correct English form is corn, spelled C-O-R-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any cereal plant (or its grain) that is the main crop or staple of a country or region.
  2. 2
    Maize, a grain crop of the species Zea mays.
  3. 3
    A grain or seed, especially of a cereal crop.
  4. 4
    A small, hard particle.
  5. 5
    A type of granular snow formed by repeated melting and refreezing, often in mountain spring conditions.
  6. 6
    Bullets, ammunition, charge and discharge of firearms.
  7. 7
    Money.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English corn, from Old English corn, from Proto-West Germanic *korn, from Proto-Germanic *kurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain; worn-down”), from *ǵerh₂- (“grow old, mature”). Cognate with Dutch koren, German Low German Koorn, German Korn, Danish korn, Norwegian Bokmål korn, Norwegian Nynorsk korn and Swedish korn; see also Albanian grurë, Russian зерно́ (zernó), Czech zrno, Latin grānum and Lithuanian žirnis. Doublet of grain, gram, granum, and grao. The sense maize (Zea mays) is an ellipsis of Indian corn that developed in 18th century North America.

This word in other languages

cereal(Español)maïs(Français)Getreide(Deutsch)cereal(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccorn,conr,cornn,corrn,cron,ocrn

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of corn - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ccorn1conr2cornn1corrn1cron2ocrn2
Edit distance from "corn"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "corn"?
"corn" is spelled C-O-R-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkɔːn/.
What does "corn" mean?
As a noun, "corn" means: Any cereal plant (or its grain) that is the main crop or staple of a country or region.
What words are commonly confused with "corn"?
"corn" is commonly confused with "CR", "cry", "cow". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "corn"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "corn" is /ˈkɔːn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "corn"?
Inherited from Middle English corn, from Old English corn, from Proto-West Germanic *korn, from Proto-Germanic *kurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain; worn-down”), from *ǵerh₂- (“grow old, mature”). Cognate with Dutch koren, German Low... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “corn”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-O-R-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈkɔːn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “CR” - see the side-by-side comparison. corn vs CR
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list