barleycorn

Everyday

1. A barleycorn is one grain of barley, a tiny seed from the barley plant. tree →
2. An old unit of length, about a third of an inch, used in old measuring. tree →

In the lessons

in fairy tales a single grain stands for something very small or very precious, as when a fairy asks for only one barleycorn in place of jewels.

Examples

• One barleycorn is a tiny grain of barley. tree →
• The hen pecked up every barleycorn in the yard. tree →
• The fairy said she would rather have one barleycorn than all the jewels. tree →

Note

nothing for maths; a count of barleycorns is just a count of single grains.