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A seed or nut of an oak tree is called an acorn in English because that is the name that has come down to us over the past thousand or so years.

Both the words oak and acorn words are derived via Dutch from the original Old Low German word for an oak tree: Eiche. (Pronounced roughly as "eye-sheh".)

That Old Low German word evolved into the modern Dutch word for an oak tree, eik. That is pronounced as "ake" today (as in the English words "take" or "ache") but eikmay have sounded much more like "oke" a few hundred years ago.

Our modern English word "acorn" may be derived from an Old Dutch word eik-korn, meaning "oak-corn". (As when using the word "corn" to mean "seed".)

Eik-korn has been replaced by the modern Dutch word eikel which means "a baby oak", just as we could say "an oaklet" in English.

Interesting factlet:

In modern Dutch an oak tree is called an eik and its seed or nut - an acorn - is called an eikel. So, in modern Dutch at least, the oak tree and its nut actually sound very similar!

Another interesting fact:

In Early English the modern word oak was spelt acbut it was pronounced in almost the same way as the modern word! It's another reason why we still spell acorn the way we do.

The change from ac to oak is a good example of the way the original Old English spelling of a word has been modernised over the past 500 years or so to match the way a word is written to the way that word is pronounced.

Such modernisation of spelling was introduced mainly as a result of the invention of the printing press and the use of printed books to educate a majority of the population: it made good sense to change the spelling from ac to oak to make it much easier to teach people how to read.

That process is still going on today, for example the use of such words as "color" instead of "colour", "thru" instead of "through", "pediatrician"" instead of "paediatrician" as current standard spellings in US English whilst, in Britain and countries within the British Commonwealth, the older spellings are still used as standard.

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16y ago

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Related Questions

What tree does an acorn come from?

An acorn comes from an oak tree. Oak trees produce acorns, which are a type of nut that serves as a seed for the oak tree to reproduce.


How many nuts does an oak tree produce?

Oak Trees produce acorns not nuts. Infact, your wrong, the acorn produces acorns which are nuts. Acorns are often classified as oak nuts. But I'm afraid I don't have the equation, apparently there is one somewhere on the web. I suppose it also depends on how many oak tree flowers are pollinated.


What kind of three produces acorn?

Oak trees produce acorns


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Acorns are the nuts that grow on oak trees, not fruit. Oak trees produce acorns as a way of reproducing and spreading their seeds.


How do oak trees start from acorns?

Oak trees start from acorns when the acorn falls to the ground and germinates, sending out roots and a shoot that eventually grows into a young oak tree.


What tree do acorns come from?

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What type of nuts do chipmunks eat in the winter?

Chipmunks eat acorns, which are also known as oak nuts.


Can you grow an acorn tree from an acorn?

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Can you eat the nut of a oak tree?

The nut, or fruit. of the oak tree is the acorn.


What is a grown acorn called?

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As in oak apples? A wasp lays eggs inside the bark of an oak tree. The tree produces tannins that surround the developing larvea forming a ball.


How do you grow an oak tree from an acorn?

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