Wheat

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /wiːt/

Definitions

1. A cereal grain with golden seeds used to make flour for bread, pasta, and other baked goods
2. A staple cereal crop that produces edible grains, commonly milled into flour for various foods, and serves as livestock feed and a base for numerous products
3. This essential grain is cultivated extensively for its versatile seeds, which are ground into flour for baking and also utilized in brewing and animal feed

Etymology: The name of this grain comes from the colour of its grain. Old English "hwǣte" descends from a Proto-Germanic word "hwaitijaz", which is built on the adjective "hwītaz", meaning "white". The grain was named for its pale, light-coloured kernels, so the plant was known by its appearance long before anyone thought of it as a staple food. The same root spread across the Germanic languages, giving German "Weizen", Dutch "weit", Swedish "vete", and Icelandic "hveiti", all for the same crop. The shared ancestor shows how thoroughly the grain and its colour were tied together in the speech of early Germanic peoples.

Synonyms: grain, cereal, crop, produce, corn