Chaff

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /t͡ʃæf/

Definitions

1. The dry, scale-like coverings that separate from seeds during harvesting
2. The dry outer coverings removed from grains during threshing ; material considered insignificant or of no value
3. The coarse, inedible parts separated from cereal seeds in farming ; things that have little importance or are dismissed as useless

Etymology: The Old English "ċeaf" meant the husks that separate from grain during threshing, and that is still the core of "chaff" today. The word is ancient and widespread in the Germanic languages: its relatives include Dutch "kaf," German "Kaff," and Scots "caff," all pointing back to a Proto-West Germanic form "*kaf." Few English words so plainly descend from farm work, and the image of separating valuable seed from worthless husk is built into the word itself. Its most famous modern sense, anything trivial or worthless, grows directly out of that threshing picture. When the grain has been beaten free, the leftover husks and stalk fragments are blown away by the wind, so what is discarded becomes the standard image of the worthless. This is why the phrase "separate the wheat from the chaff" still means sorting the good from the useless.

Synonyms: husks, trash, waste

Antonyms: grain, core