Corn is a New World crop that was unknown throughout the rest of the world until Columbus accidentally connected Europe with the Americas. But the native words for corn did not become universal: many cultures have names for corn that reference other nation.
In some African languages, the word for corn means “Egyptian grain”; in Egypt, corn is called “Syrian” or “Turkish grain”; in France, it is “Indian wheat”; and in India, corn is referred to as “wheat from Mecca.”
