KERNEL

kernel, substance, core, center, centre, essence, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, marrow, meat, nub, pith, sum, nitty-gritty

(noun) the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; “the gist of the prosecutor’s argument”; “the heart and soul of the Republican Party”; “the nub of the story”

kernel

(noun) a single whole grain of a cereal; “a kernel of corn”

kernel, meat

(noun) the inner and usually edible part of a seed or grain or nut or fruit stone; “black walnut kernels are difficult to get out of the shell”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

kernel (plural kernels)

The core, center, or essence of an object or system.

Synonyms: crux, gist

(botany) The central (usually edible) part of a nut, especially once the hard shell has been removed.

(botany) A single seed or grain, especially of corn or wheat.

(botany, US) The stone of certain fruits, such as peaches or plums.

A small mass around which other matter is concreted; a nucleus; a concretion or hard lump in the flesh.

(computing) The central part of many computer operating systems which manages the system's resources and the communication between hardware and software components.

Hyponyms: microkernel, unikernel

(computing) The core engine of any complex software system.

Antonym: userland

(calculus) A function used to define an integral transform.

(mathematics) A set of pairs of a mapping's domain which are mapped to the same value.

(mathematics, linear algebra, functional analysis) For a given function (especially a linear map between vector spaces), the set of elements in the domain which are mapped to zero; (formally) given f : X → Y, the set {x ∈ X : f(x) = 0}.

Antonym: support

Meronyms: root, zero

(mathematics, category theory) For a category with zero morphisms: the equalizer of a given morphism and the zero morphism which is parallel to that given morphism.

(mathematics, fuzzy set theory) The set of members of a fuzzy set that are fully included (i.e, whose grade of membership is 1).

(slang) The human clitoris.

(chemistry) The nucleus and electrons of an atom excluding its valence electrons.

Synonyms

• (core or essence): See also gist

Anagrams

• kleren

Source: Wiktionary

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Ker"nel, n. Etym: [OE. kernel, kirnel, curnel, AS.cyrnel, fr. corn grain. See Corn, and cf. Kern to harden.]

1. The essential part of a seed; all that is within the seed walls; the edible substance contained in the shell of a nut; hence, anything included in a shell, husk, or integument; as, the kernel of a nut. See Illust. of Endocarp. ' A were as good crack a fusty nut with no kernel Shak.

2. A single seed or grain; as, a kernel of corn.

3. A small mass around which other matter is concreted; a nucleus; a concretion or hard lump in the flesh.

4. The central, substantial or essential part of anything; the gist; the core; as, the kernel of an argument.

Ker"nel, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Kerneled or Kernelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Kerneling or Kernelling.]

Definition: To harden or ripen into kernels; to produce kernels.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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