wardcorn

Meaning

Noun

• A payment of corn to be offered in commutation of military service.
• The obligation to watch and keep guard, and blow a horn upon any occasion of surprise.
• A watchman who blows a horn upon any occasion of surprise.

Origin

• ward + corn
• ward + French corne ("horn"). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Du Cange ran across the term (Etymology 1) and misinterpreted it as referring to something similar to cornage, giving a definition that was then picked up by later writers.