Grain

Grain (pronounced greyn)

(1) A small, hard seed, especially the seed of a food plant such as wheat, corn, rye, oats, rice, or millet.

(2) The gathered seed of food plants, especially of cereal plants.

(3) Any small, hard particle, as of sand, gold, pepper, or gunpowder.

(4) The smallest unit of weight in most systems, originally determined by the weight of a plump grain of wheat. In the US and British systems, as in avoirdupois, troy, and apothecaries' weights, the grain is identical.  In an avoirdupois ounce there are 437.5 grains; in the troy and apothecaries' ounces there are 480 grains (one grain equals 0.0648 gram).  A grain is ¹⁄_7,000 of an avoirdupois pound

(5) Slang term for the smallest possible amount of anything (eg not a grain of truth).

(6) The arrangement or direction of fibers in wood, or the pattern resulting from this.

(7) To paint in imitation of the grain of wood stone, etc.

(8) Slang term for marijuana which faded from use in the 1980s.

(9) In opposition to one's temper, inclination, or character (against the grain).

(10) In idiomatic use, as “take it with a grain of salt”, an expression of scepticism.

(11) A solid-fuel rocket's propellant charge; tending to the shape of a hollow cylinder, sometimes textured, the size varying, up to a point in proportion with the device to be equipped.

1250-1300:  Middle English grein ("a small, hard seed" especially of one of the cereal plants, also as a collective singular, "seed of wheat and allied grasses used as food;" also "something resembling grain; a hard particle of other substances" (salt, sand, later gunpowder etc)) and the twelfth century Old French grein (eed, grain; particle, drop; berry; grain as a unit of weight) from the Latin grānum (seed, a grain, small kernel), from the primitive Indo-European root gre-no- (grain).  In the US, where corn developed a specialized sense because of its place in agricultural economics, it is the general word and used of wheat, rye, oats, barley etc.

The earlier sense in English was the early thirteenth century "scarlet dye made from insects", a meaning attaches also to the Old French collateral form graine.  In Middle English grain also could mean "seed of flowers; pip of an apple, grape etc; a berry, legume, nut.  The verb grained (simple past tense and past participle of grain) dates from the 1520s and was used in compounds associated with "having grains of a specified kind" (coarse-grained, close-grained, fine-grained etc) and also the process of staining a surface with an imitation wood grain.

Figuratively, the late fourteenth century meaning "the smallest possible quantity" reflected the practicalities of commerce rather than a scientific expression, the conveniently available devices of the age unable accurately to measure anything smaller and there anyway being no practical use for such a measure.  From the early fifteenth century it was thus standardized (in law and customary practice) as the smallest unit of weight (originally the weight of a plump, dry grain of wheat or barley from the middle of the ear).  From the 1560s, it was used to describe "roughness of surface; a roughness as of grains", applied especially to timbers as a measure of the "quality due to the character or arrangement of its fibres".  From this use emerged the phrase “against the grain” a metaphor from carpentry dating from circa 1650 expressing the experience that cutting across the fibres of wood is more difficult than cutting along them.  Grain alcohol was first noted in 1854 as a distiller’s category which reflected the practice of mixing alcohols derived from different grains for industrial and other purposes.

Grain as a measure of mass: apothecaries and others

A grain is a unit of measurement of mass, and, for the troy grain, equal to exactly 64.79891 milligrams. It is nominally based upon the mass of a single seed of a cereal. From the Bronze Age into the Renaissance the average masses of wheat and barley grains were part of the legal definitions of units of mass.  The grain was the legal foundation of traditional English (and later imperial) weight systems, and is the only unit that is equal throughout the troy, avoirdupois, and apothecaries' systems of mass.  The unit was based on the weight of a single grain of barley, considered equivalent to one and one third grains of wheat.

In both British Imperial and U.S. customary units, there are precisely 7,000 grains per avoirdupois pound, and 5,760 grains per troy pound or apothecaries’ pound.  The grain is commonly used to measure the mass of bullets and propellants and the term also refers to a single particle of gunpowder, the size of which varies according to requirements.  In archery, the grain is the standard unit used to weigh arrows.  In dentistry, the gold foil used as a material to restore teeth is measured in grains.  The Historically, the 5-grain aspirin was the typical domestic dose while 7-grains was thought a strong does (and the guidance label on some bottles of aspirin still indicates the dosage is 325 mg (5 grains).  Though no longer recommended, grains are still used occasionally in medicine as part of the apothecaries' system, especially in prescriptions for older medicines such as aspirin or phenobarbital.  In that example the grain is approximated to 65 mg, though the grain can also be approximated to 60 mg, depending on the medication and manufacturer.  The apothecaries' system has gradually been replaced by the metric system, and the use of the grain in prescriptions is now rare.

In small-arms ammunition, the weight of the bullet is expressed in grains, a number often neglected which seems strange given weight affects (1) how a firearm recoils, (2) the trajectory of the bullet and (3) terminal ballistics (how the bullet behaves when striking a target).  As a general principle, a lighter bullet will achieve a higher speed which means it should maintain a straighter trajectory over a longer distance. However, a light bullet delivers less energy and is more susceptible to wind so it will tend to be blown off target more than something heavier.  For ultimate accuracy therefore, neither is absolutely preferable.  Nor is the grain count of necessity going to produce the same effect in every firearm because measures like calibre, muzzle energy and muzzle velocity all have an influence.  That was as true decades ago when the trend was towards smaller calibres as it is in the age of “bigger is better”.  In some cases, over some distances, a lighter bullet, moving faster, delivers more energy at the point of impact.  That’s one part of the equation but the math influences also the recoil.  It takes more energy to move a heavier bullet so, because for every action there should be an equal and opposite reaction, the heavier bullet should cause a greater recoil but, depending on the calibre and the firearm’s frame (some absorb more recoil), the lighter bullet might induce more recoil because more energy is thrust from the barrel, something further influenced by the propellant burn rate.

Woodgrain and not

Jaguar’s Mk X (1961-1966) and 420G (1966-1970) made extensive use of burl walnut woodgrain fittings.  It was one of the more atmospheric interiors of the post-war years.

The Facel Vega Facel II (1962-1964) was France’s finest car of the post-war years.  However, its lush looking “woodgrain” dashboard was actually painted metal.