wheat | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

46 entries found.

Old English hwæte "wheat," from Proto-Germanic *hwaitjaz (source also of Old Saxon hweti, Old Norse hveiti, Norwegian kveite, Old Frisian hwete, Middle Dutch, Dutch weit, Old High German weizzi, German Weizen, Gothic hvaiteis "wheat"), literally "that which is white" (in reference to the grain or the meal), from PIE *kwoid-yo-, suffixed variant form of root *kweid-, *kweit- "to shine" (see white; and compare Welsh gwenith "wheat," related to gwenn "white"). The Old World grain was introduced into New Spain in 1528. Wheaties, the cereal brand name, was patented 1925.

wheaten (adj.)

"made of wheat," Old English hwæten; see wheat + -en (2).

buckwheat (n.)

1540s, from Middle Dutch boecweite "beech wheat" (compare Danish boghvede, Swedish bovete, German Buchweizen), so called from resemblance of the grains to the seed of beech trees. Possibly a native formation on the same model as the Dutch word, from a dialectal form of beech. See beech + wheat.

zein (n.)

simple protein obtained from maize and wheat, 1822, from zea, Late Latin name for "spelt," from Greek zeia "one-seeded wheat, barley, corn" (from PIE root *yewo-) + -in (2).

simnel (n.)

"sweet cake," c. 1200, from Old French simenel "fine wheat flour; flat bread cake, Lenten cake," probably by dissimilation from Vulgar Latin *siminellus (also source of Old High German semala "the finest wheat flour," German Semmel "a roll"), a diminutive of Latin simila "fine flour" (see semolina).

mein (n.)

"Chinese wheat flour noodles" (in lo mein, chow mein, etc.), 1934, from Chinese, literally "wheat flour."

shredded (adj.)

1570s, past-participle adjective from shred (v.). Shredded wheat is recorded from 1885.

emmer (n.)

species of wheat, 1908, from German Emmer, variant of Amelkorn, from amel "starch," from Latin amylum (see amyl).

flour (v.)

"to sprinkle with flour," 1650s, from flour (n.). Meaning "convert (wheat) into flour" is from 1828. Related: Floured; flouring.

farina (n.)

1707, "dust, powdery substance," from Latin farina "ground wheat, flour, meal," from far (genitive farris) "husked wheat, emmer; grain, flour," from Proto-Italic *fars "flour," from PIE *bhars-, with cognates in Old Irish bairgen "bread, loaf," Welsh bara "bread," Serbo-Croatian brašno "flour, food," Latvian bariba "food," Gothic barizeins "from barley," Old Norse barr "grain," Old English bere "barley;" according to de Vaan perhaps a loan-word from a non-IE language.

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