acorn
noun
Simple meaning
Fruit of the oak tree: a smooth thin-walled nut in a woody cup-shaped base.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
aykawrnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈeɪkɔɹn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Fruit of the oak tree: a smooth thin-walled nut in a woody cup-shaped base
“A squirrel buried an acorn beneath the leaves in our yard.”
The fruit of the oak, being an oval nut growing in a woody cup or cupule.
us
Acronym of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Fruit of the oak tree: a smooth thin-walled nut in a woody cup-shaped base
An 'acorn' is instantly recognizable as the seed of an oak tree, often associated with squirrels and autumn. It evokes images of nature and wildlife, unlike a generic 'nut' which could be any kind.
“A squirrel buried an acorn beneath the leaves in our yard.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where you'll really hear it
Children's storybook
“A busy squirrel gathered acorns for the long winter ahead.”
Nature walk conversation
“Look at all the acorns scattered under the oak tree.”
Gardening advice
“Planting an acorn is one way to grow a mighty oak.”
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use acorn
- “A squirrel carefully buried an acorn in the ground for winter.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Fruit
Cone
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Barnacle that attaches to rocks especially in intertidal zones.
Cup-shaped structure of hardened bracts at the base of an acorn.
Squash plant bearing small acorn-shaped fruits having yellow flesh and dark green or yellow rind with longitudinal ridges.
A small vacuum tube.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.