Etymograph

English

sandcorn

Sandcorn comes from Old English sandcorn ‘grain of sand’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *samdakurną.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*samdakurną1reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sandakorn1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sandcorn1‘grain of sand’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*sandcorn1reconstructed
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1857sandcorn1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sandcorn
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1857, Oriental Fairy Tales: “[…] overflowing all with golden splendour, gilding mountains, trees,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*samdakurnąWiktionary, English sandcornreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sandakornWiktionary, English sandcornreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sandcornWiktionary, English sandcorn‘grain of sand’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*sandcornWiktionary, English sandcornreconstructed
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1857sandcornWiktionary, English sandcorn. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1857, Oriental Fairy Tales: “[…] overflowing all with golden splendour, gilding mountains, trees,…”

Formed from sand + corn

Proto-Germanic *samdaz ‘sand’

Proto-West Germanic *samd

Old English sand

Middle English sand

English sand

Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm ‘grain’

Proto-Germanic *kurną ‘corn, grain, cereal’

Proto-West Germanic *korn ‘corn, grain, cereal’

Old English corn ‘corn, a grain or seed’

Middle English corn ‘any plant that bears grain, especially wheat’

English corn

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *samdakurną

Today it means

noun A grain of sand.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sandcorn”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *samdakurną / sandcorn

Shirt and support for this word