wheat

 
Pronunciation: /wiːt/

noun

[mass noun]
  • a cereal which is the most important kind grown in temperate countries, the grain of which is ground to make flour for bread, pasta, pastry, etc..
    • Genus Triticum, family Gramineae: several species, including bread wheat (T. aestivum) and durum wheat, and many distinctive cultivars
  • the grain of wheat.

Phrases

separate the wheat from the chaff

see chaff1.

Origin:

Old English hwǣte of Germanic origin; related to Dutch weit, German Weizen, also to white