Word.ws English Dictionary

awn

/ɔːn/

awn noun: the bristle or beard of barley, oats, grasses, etc., or any similar bristlelike appendage; arista.

Noun

awn (plural awns)

  1. The bristle or beard of barley, oats, grasses, etc., or any similar bristlelike appendage; arista.
    • In one exotic genus, Aristida, the awn is compound, having three forks or branches; another exotic genus, Pappophorum, is remarkable in having the flowering glume armed with a dozen or more awns.1909, William Hutchinson, Handbook of Grasses, page 12

awn meaning in Tamil, Kannada, Arabic and Persian

awn in Tamil

கதிரலகு, சிலாம்பு, மணி முள், மேற்கூர், கூல வகைகளின் கதிரலகு, தலைக்கு மேலாகப் பாதுகாப்பளி

awn in Kannada

ಊಬು

awn in Arabic

the bristle or beard of certain plants
سَفَاة safāh

awn in Persian

the bristle or beard of certain plants
دازه dâze, تزه taze

Forms of awn

pluralawns

Origin of awn

Inherited from Middle English aw(u)ne, agune, from Old Norse ǫgn (compare Danish avne), from Proto-Germanic *aganō, *ahanō (“chaff”) (compare Old English agnu, Dutch agen, German Ahne, Agen), from Proto-Indo-European *aḱanā (compare Latin agna (“ear of wheat”), Lithuanian ašni̇̀s (“edge, blade”), Czech osina, Ancient Greek ἄκαινα (ákaina, “spike, prick”), ἄκανος (ákanos, “pine-thistle”), Sanskrit अशनि (aśáni, “thunderbolt, arrow tip”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”). More at edge.

Words formed from awn

Words that rhyme with awn

25 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about awn

What does awn mean?
Awn means the bristle or beard of barley, oats, grasses, etc., or any similar bristlelike appendage; arista.
What is awn in Tamil?
Awn in Tamil is கதிரலகு, சிலாம்பு, மணி முள். See Awn meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is awn?
Awn is a noun.
How do you pronounce awn?
Awn is pronounced /ɔːn/.
What is the plural of awn?
The plural of awn is awns.

Words near awn in the dictionary

  1. awlworts
  2. awm
  3. awmries
  4. awmry
  5. awms
  6. awn
  7. awncient
  8. awned
  9. awnedness
  10. awner
  11. awners

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: awn (page history and authors); awn (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); awn (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-awn.wav.

Cite this entry: “awn.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/awn. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.