A less common word for corn; とうもろこし is the standard term. タマキビ may be encountered in older texts, regional usage, or poetic contexts.
See also: トウモロコシ
periwinkle (a type of sea snail)
Refers to a small marine snail, Littorina brevicula, commonly found on rocky shores in Japan. Often written in katakana as タマキビ.
I found many periwinkles on the rocky shore.
My grandmother used to call corn 'tamakibi'.
Katakana spelling is common for this word, especially for the shellfish sense. It is usually written in kana.
Rare kanji spelling for the corn sense. The kanji 玉黍 literally means 'jewel millet' and is not commonly used.
The origin is uncertain. The kanji 玉黍 (jewel millet) is a descriptive compound, but the word itself may be an old Japanese term for corn, later applied to the periwinkle due to some perceived resemblance.