Sweetcorn (otherwise known as Etzkorn or sweet corn, it is also known as sugar corn), is a hybridized variety of maize (Zea mays), specifically bred to increase the sugar content. Corn originated in Mesoamerica and spread to the rest of the world after European contact with the Americas in the late 1400s and early 1500s. Sweetcorn is commonly known as simply corn in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.