wheat

Pronunciation

• IPA: /wiːt/, /hwiːt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English hwǣte (before 830),^[2][3][4] from *hwaitjaz,^[3][4] cognate with Old Saxon hwēti, Dutch weit, German Weizen, Old Norse hveiti and Gothic hwaiteis.^[2][4][5] It is related to white,^[4][6][5] presumably for the pale colour of its flour.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The grain of the cereal, ground for flour: about 825.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The plant itself is from about 950.^[8] Wheat has been set against chaff and tares in proverbial and allusive use since before 1225,^[8] and to separate the wheat from the chaff goes back to John the Baptist's words in Matthew and Luke.^[7] The pale gold colour of ripe wheat is from 1915.^[8] Wheaten is Old English hwǣten.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 825 – the grain.^[8]
• c. 950 – the plant.^[8]
• before 1225 – opposed to chaff.^[8]
• 1915 – a pale gold colour.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of several cereal grasses of the genus Triticum, widely grown in temperate regions.
2. The grain of these grasses, ground for flour.

Word family

• wheatless
• wheaten
• wheatland
• whole-wheat
• cracked wheat
• shredded wheat
• soft wheat
• wheat bread

Related words

• white
• emmer
• durum

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press