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) In brewing & distillation, the residuum (of grain and other inputs) after processing.

(4) Any small, hard particle (sand, gold, salt, pepper, gunpowder etc).

(5) The smallest unit of weight in many 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 1/7000th  of an avoirdupois pound.

(6) As “carat grain” of a quarter carat as a measure of gold purity, creating a 96-point scale between zero-100% purity (now only a historic reference).

(7) As “metric carat” (or “pearl grain”), a quarter carat used for measuring precious stones and pearls (now a standard set internationally at 50 mg).

(8) In historic French use, a weight of 1/9216th of a livre (equivalent to 53.11 mg at metricization and between 1812-1839 set to 54.25 mg from 1812–1839 as part of the mesures usuelles (the system of measurement introduced by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821; leader of the French Republic 1799-1804 & Emperor of the French from 1804-1814 & 1815) in 1812, used as compromise between the metric system and the traditional measurements, adherence to which was strong (especially among traders and in rural areas.  The system was restricted to the retail sector and remained current until 1840 when standards set in 1795 & 1799 were reinstituted).

(9) In botany, a rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock.

(10) In leather-working, the hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.

(11) In photography & videography, the visual texture in processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons (now mostly a historic reference but still used where the effect appears (either naturally or in emulation) in digital output).

(12) In materials engineering, a region within a material having a single crystal structure or direction.

(13) A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes (hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc) and sometimes used in poetry as the equivalent to Tyrian purple.

(14) In astronautics, 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.

(15) In slang and idiomatic use, the smallest possible amount of anything (eg not a grain of truth).

(16) In slang and idiomatic use, in opposition to one's temper, inclination, or character (eg against the grain).

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

(18) Among drug users, a slang term for marijuana (highly regionalized and rare since the 1980s).

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

(20) To feed grain to.

(21) To form grains, or to assume a granular form, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.

(22) To texture (or paint etc) a surface in imitation of the grain of a substance such as wood.

(23) In tanning, to remove the hair or fat from a skin (also used of the “softening” process).

(24) In horticulture, to yield fruit.

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”; “something resembling grain”; “a hard particle of other substances (salt, sand etc (and later, gunpowder etc)))” and the twelfth century Old French grein (seed, 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's the general word and used of wheat, rye, oats, barley etc.  The noun grainage describes the selection and storage of cocoons in sericulture (the rearing of silkworms for the production of silk).  Grain & graining are nouns & verbs; grainer is a noun, grained is a verb & adjective, grainy & grainage are adjectives; the noun plural is nouns.

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.  The grain was long the apothecaries basic unit and some retailers still use it as a “retro” expression (in conjunction with mandated systems, a la the parallel use of pounds & kilograms, popular in the UK). 

The earlier sense in English was the early thirteenth century “scarlet dye made from insects”, a meaning attached 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 then no practical use for such a measure (although since Antiquity philosophers had been pondering the concept of what came to be understood as “the atom”).  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”.    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.

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.  Although mere jargon to carpenters & cabinet-makers, shockingly, one patient in 1810 used the phrase in a letter describing enduring a mastectomy performed without the use of  anaesthetic: “When the wound was made, & the instrument was withdrawn, the pain seemed undiminished, for the air that suddenly rushed into those delicate parts felt like a mass of minute but sharp & forked poniards, that were tearing the edges of the wound – but when again I felt the instrument – describing a curve – cutting against the grain, if I may so say, while the flesh resisted in a manner so forcible as to oppose & tire the hand of the operator, who was forced to change from the right to the left – then, indeed, I thought I must have expired. I attempted no more to open my Eyes, – they felt as if hermetically shut, & so firmly closed, that the Eyelids seemed indented into the Cheeks.”   

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.  When the revised 420G was released, the upper section of the dashboard was replaced with a padded section which offered better passenger protection but lacked the visual charm.  The Mark X was a missed opportunity for Jaguar; although too big to enjoy much success in the UK and many export markets, it would have been ideal for the US had a 5-5.5 litre (300-340 cubic inch) version of the Daimler V8 been used.  Although a "proof of concept" prototype V8 Mark X had demonstrated how good such a thing would have been, Jaguar were still stuck in their "anti-V8" mindset and believed their future ranges should be powered exclusively by straight-six and V12 powerplants.  As it was, although the platform was superior, the use of the XK six (in the same tune as the E-Type (1961-1974) sports car) meant the Mark X was unsuited (in US conditions) to compete with the Cadillacs, Lincolns and Imperials.  While the 3.8 & 4.2 litre (231 & 258 cubic inch) six was ideal for the E-Type, in the bigger, heavier Mark X it didn't deliver effortless performance of the American cars, some of which were already running 7 litre (430 cubic inch) V8s. 

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) 5-grain aspirin was the typical domestic dose while 7-grains was thought a "strong dose" (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.

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 which may have disappointed some but most forgot that upon putting their fingers on the five, marvelously tactile, sliding heater controls which were in the style of the fittings used in aviation.  Being hand-painted, no two Facel Vega dashboards were exactly the same (just like Jaguar's real woodgrain) and the factory offered a "Lighter" or "Darker" effect.  Built with reliable, US-built Chrysler V8s, the "big" Facels were a success and the company's demise was the result of using a fragile, locally-made four-cylinder engine for a companion, smaller range.  The Facel II’s predecessor was the FV series (1954-1959 which, as the revised HK500, remained in production until 1962) and it was in his publisher’s FV3B the French author Albert Camus (1913–1960) died in crash, close to Villeblevin in the north-central region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.  As well as being a footnote in literary history, that Facel Vega (or, strictly speaking, one of its tyres) appears in the conspiracy theory which alleges the accident was the result of sabotage ordered by the Kremlin in response to the author’s criticism of Soviet actions in crushing the Hungarian uprising of 1956.  

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.

Lindsay Lohan recommends whole grains as part of a balanced diet.  “Whole grains” are those contain all three parts of the kernel (bran, germ & endosperm) in their natural proportions; in this, they differ from refined grains which have the bran and germ removed.  Minimally processed, whole grains are recommended by dieticians because they provide an optimal quantity of fibre, vitamins, minerals & phytochemicals, nutritional elements which can at least partially be lost by the refining process.  Example of whole grains include whole wheat, brown rice, oats, barley & quinoa and in their natural form, as well as the nutritional advantages, being dense, they tend to be “chewier and nuttier” than refined products and are valued by chefs for their texture.