ustilago maydis
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (1)
- a common smut attacking Indian corn causing greyish white swellings that rupture to expose a black spore massSynonyms: boil smutType of cornsmut, corn smutMember of Ustilago, genus Ustilago
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
“ustilago maydis” is listed under Smut.
Origin: Akin to Sw. smuts, Dan. smuds, MHG. smuz, G. schmutz, D. smet a spot or stain, smoddig, smodsig, smodderig, dirty, smodderen to smut; and probably to E. smite. See Smite, transitive verb, and cf. Smitt, Smutch.
1. Foul matter, like soot or coal dust; also, a spot or soil made by such matter.
2. Mining Bad, soft coal, containing much earthy matter, found in the immediate locality of faults.
3. Botany An infection of cereal grains producing a swelling which is at length resolved into a powdery sooty mass. It is caused by parasitic fungi of the genus Ustilago. Ustilago segetum, or Ustilago Carbo, is the commonest kind; that of Indian corn is Ustilago maydis.
4. Obscene language; ribaldry; obscenity.
He does not stand upon decency... but will talk smut, though a priest and his mother be in the room.— Joseph Addison
Smut mill, a machine for cleansing grain from smut.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54