maize

noun

ˈmāz 

: a tall annual cereal grass (Zea mays) originally domesticated in Mexico and widely grown for its large elongated ears of starchy seeds : corn entry 1 sense 4

Along with maize, their main food, the ancient Maya planted squash, beans, peppers, cacao, and other plants, all of which they used for food or medicinal purposes.

—Evelyn Dana Feld

But evidence has been elusive, because the standard macrofossils—say, squash rinds or maize kernels—quickly rot in the sultry climate.

—Kathryn Brown

Examples of maize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This is because developing countries have less capacity to adapt to shortages of key agricultural products like fertilizer, poor harvests of maize and other staple crops, and less resilience to bounce back from extreme weather and climate events. — Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2026

The price of maize, a staple across Central America, rose by more than 60 percent in Honduras from 2025 to 2026. — Dan Restrepo, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2026

One penalty, in particular, was a killer for the maize and blue. — ABC News, 27 Sep. 2026

Across Europe, heat and water shortages have damaged maize, soybean and sunflower crops, with some harvest forecasts falling 14% below recent averages. — Shooka Bidarian, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Spanish maíz, from Taino mahiz

First Known Use

circa 1544, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for maize

• baize
• bays
• blase
• blaze
• braes
• braze
• chaise
• claes
• clays
• craze
• dais
• days

Kids Definition

maize

noun

ˈmāz 

1

: corn entry 1 sense 1

2

corn entry 1 sense 2

3

corn entry 1 sense 3