The history of maize is about 7,000 years old. The exact proginators of maize are still uncertain but it is considered that teosinte a wild grass is one of the proginator. Modern archeological and genetic studies revealed that teosinte was first domesticated in southern Mexico around 4,000 to 3,000 B.C. During 1400 B.C., corn cultivation started in both Mexican coasts. Native Americans classified the major lineages of corn viz. dent, flint, flour, pop, and sweet corn. The American Indians treated it as cereal and started eating. The corn derived from Indoeuropean word which mean ‘small nugget.’ When English and German settlers arrived in the new world they referred to this crop as "corn". They distinguished it from other grains by calling it "Indian corn". The origin of the word maize is believed to be from Taino people in Northern Antilles island (near present day San Salvador).The word Taino means  "mahis" which was considered as "source of life." Over the time the “mahis” word  transmutated into maize.