The more technical name for the big green stalk, maize, came to English from the Spanish maiz, a barely altered version of the Taino (the language native to Hispaniola, the island of Haiti and the Dominican Republic) word for the plant, mahiz.

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8000 BC to 7000 BC 900 A.D. 1018 15th century

Did You Know?

Ancient cob is less than a 10th of the size of modern corn cobs at about 2cm (0.8in) long.
Ancient cob only produced 8 rows of kernals, that's half of the modern cob.
Indian corn is traditionally used in autumn harvest decorations.
Corn is used to produce ethanol, a first generation liqued biofuel.