Kernel

How to spell kernel

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce kernel

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does kernel mean?

1. nounThe softer, usually edible part inside the shell, husk, or stone of a nut or seed; more broadly, the central or most important part of something.
2. nounThe core component of an operating system that manages the processor, memory, and hardware.

Kernel in a sentence

• She cracked the walnut and picked out the kernel.

• The update patched a security flaw in the operating system kernel.

• Each popcorn kernel swelled in the hot oil.

• A corrupted kernel can prevent the computer from booting at all.

Where does kernel come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Kernel comes from the Old English cyrnel, which was a diminutive form of corn, the native word for a seed or grain. The literal sense was therefore 'a little seed', the small edible part found inside a shell, husk, or stone. From this concrete meaning English steadily developed the figurative sense of the central, essential part of something, as in the kernel of an argument or the kernel of truth. Much later, in the twentieth century, computer scientists borrowed that same 'central core' idea to name the kernel at the heart of an operating system. It is worth noting that kernel is unrelated to its homophone colonel, the military rank, which came through French and Italian; the two words simply collided in sound, which is exactly why the spelling so often trips writers up.

How the word is built

• kern- (from Old English corn: seed, grain)
• -el (diminutive suffix)

Words that sound like kernel

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• colonel: A senior army officer ranking above a lieutenant colonel and below a brigadier or general.