maize

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish maíz, from Taíno *mahis, *mahisi, from Proto-Arawak *marikɨ. Cognate with Arawak marisi, Wayuu maiki.

noun

  1. Corn; a type of grain of the species Zea mays.
    A fundamental creative act of American man was the development of maize. For it was maize that made possible and sustained the whole Peruvian civilization as well as Mexican and Central American ones. Exactly where it originated is not known, but corn was found in pre-Mayan graves dating to 3000 B.C. 1972, Lytle Robinson, chapter 5, in Edgar Cayceʼs Story of the Origin and Destiny of Man, USA: Berkley Publishing Corporation, page 106

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