durum

en-noun

durum (usually uncountable, plural durums)

Borrowing from Latin dūrum, nominative neuter singular of dūrus (“hard”). Doublet of dour and dure.

durum pasta

durum bread

Much has been done in crossing Triticum durum Desf. and T. vulgare Vill.² in an attempt to produce common wheats that are as resistant to stem rust as are the durums.

1933 October, Glenn S. Smith, J. Allen Clark, “Inheritance of Stem-Rust reaction and Correlation of Characters in Pentad, Nodak, and Akrona Durum-Wheat Crosses”, in Technical Bulletin, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 385, page 2:

2003 October, Commission staff, Durum and Hard Red Spring Wheat From Canada, U.S. International Trade Commission, Publication 3639, page V-5,
The Minneapolis Grain Exchange stated that durum is a small volume commodity with very specific uses. The durum futures contract traded sporadically for several years, and the Exchange declared the durum futures market dormant after there were no trades and no open interest in any futures contracts.

2012, Ruby Parker Puckett, Foodservice Manual for Health Care Institutions, Wiley (Jossey-Bass), 4th Edition, page 397,
Water is added to a mixture of durum meal or flour, semolina, and farina to make dough that is forced through dies to make tubular macaroni products and cord-like spaghetti.

(often used attributively) Ellipsis of durum wheat.


Bermuda grass

Bermuda grass (usually uncountable, plural Bermuda grasses)

Not native to Bermuda, but abundant and an invasive species there.

Cynodon dactylon
Cynodon dactylon#Translingual

A perennial grass, Cynodon dactylon, native to Africa and Asia, used in warm areas of the world for pasture, lawn and making hay.

ثَيِّل

a perennial grass, Cynodon dactylon, native to Africa and Asia, used in warm areas of the world for pasture, lawn and making hay


johnny cake

The little girls sat under the pines eating their thick mutton sandwiches and big slabs of johnny cake spread with butter.

1922, Katherine Mansfield, “The Doll's House”, in Selected Stories, Oxford, published 2002, page 353:

The women were good cooks. They used to cook bread, damper and johnny cake in bakers.

1987, Ida West, “Pride Against Prejudice”, in Heiss & Minter, editor, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, Allen & Unwin, published 2008, page 108:

(Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) Alternative form of johnnycake (“type of basic cornbread”)


betel palm

Areca catechu
Areca catechu#Translingual

An Asiatic palm, Areca catechu, whose seeds are betel nuts.


cockspur

cockspur (countable and uncountable, plural cockspurs)

From Middle English cokkispore, equivalent to cock + spur.

(uncountable) Grass of species (Echinochloa crus-galli).

(uncountable) Orchard grass, a widely grown tall stout hay and pasture grass (Dactylis glomerata) of Eurasia.

(countable) A small West Indian tree (Pisonia aculeata).

(uncountable) Burgrass of species Cenchrus echinatus.


cornbread

cornbread (countable and uncountable, plural cornbreads)

Coordinate term: corn pudding


corncob

en-verb

corncob (third-person singular simple present corncobs, present participle corncobbing, simple past and past participle corncobbed)

corncobs (present singular third-person)
corncobbing (participle present)
corncobbed (participle past)
corncobbed (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-corncob.wav

From corn + cob. The Internet slang sense emerged from a 2011 absurdist tweet by Weird Twitter personality dril in which a man furiously denies being owned as he transforms into a corncob.

“Do you enjoy being corncobbed?”

2017 July 18, Jeremy Gordon, “CNN’s Most Cynical Pundit Got Mercilessly Owned in a Reddit AMA”, in SPIN:

Trump had lost but was denying that this was the case. He had been corncobbed.

2017 September 4, Amelia Tait, “The internet dictionary: what does it mean to be corncobbed?”, in The New Statesmen:

Distracted cops, rude asteroids and the corncobbing of Andrew Koenig

2021, Daniel Hill, "The Big Mad: Missed Connections", Riverfront Times, 24 March 2021 - 30 March 2021, page 11

(transitive, US, Internet slang) To defeat (someone) who then refuses to admit defeat.


xyrid

From Latin xyris (“iris”) (see Xyris) + -id.

Its family, Xyridaceae, is closely allied to the lilies: xyrids have three stamens, while lilies generally have six.

1987, Elizabeth Conebere, Wildflowers of south-eastern Australia, page 48:

These four subdivisions correspond to groups sometimes referred to as the cyperids, xyrids, restiids and graminids, respectively (Linder and Rudall, 2005), except that Hydatellaceae was originally included among the xyrids, and since has been removed from the monocots (Saarela et al., 2007).

2013, Paul Wilkin, Early Events in Monocot Evolution, page 318:

Any of several North American plants, of the genus Xyris, resembling sedges.


detassel

detassel (third-person singular simple present detassels, present participle detasseling or detasselling, simple past and past participle detasseled or detasselled)

detassels (present singular third-person)
detasseling (participle present)
detasselling (participle present)
detasseled (participle past)
detasseled (past)
detasselled (participle past)
detasselled (past)

(US, transitive) To remove the pollen-bearing tassel from (a female maize plant) as part of the hybridization process.


sudangrass

en-noun

sudangrass (countable and uncountable, plural sudangrasses)

A tropical grass, any of several varieties of Sorghum, from Egypt and the Sudan, used for pasture, silage and hay


corn liquor

corn liquor (countable and uncountable, plural corn liquors)

(US) A distilled spirit, derived from maize, having a high alcohol content and little flavor.


hoecake

From hoe + cake, since it was often cooked on a hoe (a type of pan, not the gardening implement).

In Jean Fritz's children's book George Washington's Breakfast, the protagonist finds out that George Washington may have eaten hoecakes for breakfast.

(dated, Southern US) A type of cornbread or cornmeal cake, made with water and salt. It was originally baked before the fire or in the ashes on a type of iron pan called a hoe; in modern times, it is fried in cooking oil in a skillet.


nutgrass

Cyperus esculentus
Cyperus esculentus#Translingual

Cyperus rotundus
Cyperus rotundus#Translingual

Any perennial sedge of species Cyperus esculentus or Cyperus rotundus, that has small edible nutlike tubers.


vegetable ivory

The nutlike seed of the South American tagua palm, used to make small items such as buttons.


tagua palm

A tropical South American palm, Phytelephas macrocarpa, whose seed is used as a substitute for ivory.


gama grass

gama grass (usually uncountable, plural gama grasses)

A tall coarse American grass of species Tripsacum dactyloides, valuable for forage.


bromeliad

Any of various tropical or subtropical New World herbaceous plants in the family Bromeliaceae.


switchgrass

switchgrass (countable and uncountable, plural switchgrasses)

He peers from the road to the woods, tangled with switchgrass and swamp myrtle.

2011, Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones, Bloomsbury (2017), page 35:

A tall North American perennial grass, of species Panicum virgatum, used as forage and to make hay.


bottle brush

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-bottle brush.wav

Any of several plants having a similar appearance, especially Anthephora or Callistemon.


cattail

From Middle English cattal, cattyle (also as cattestail), equivalent to cat + tail.

Any of several perennial herbs, of the genus Typha, that have long flat leaves, and grow in marshy places.

بُرْدِيّ

any of several perennial herbs of the genus Typha


cornpone

cornpone (countable and uncountable, plural cornpones)

Coordinate term: corn pudding

The Harvard man went back into the kitchen and sat down at a rickety table covered with a red-checked oil-cloth. On it were spread the spoiled ham, a dish of poke salad, a corn pone, and a pot of weak coffee.

(US, Appalachia) A form of cornbread made without milk or eggs.


grist

grist (countable and uncountable, plural grists)

From Middle English grist, gryst, from Old English grist, gyrst (“the action of grinding, corn for grinding, gnashing”), of obscure origin: possibly from a pre-Germanic substrate language, or from a derivative of Proto-Germanic *gredaną (“to crunch”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to rub, grind”). Cognate with Old Saxon gristgrimmo (“gnashing of the teeth”), German Griesgram (“a grumbler, a grouch, peevishness, misery”), Old English gristel (“gristle”).

cog

Matter, as wise logicians say, / Cannot without a form subsist; / And form, say I, as well as they, / Must fail if matter brings no grist.

1719, Jonathan Swift, “The Progress of Beauty”, in The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., volume 1:

(colloquial, obsolete) Supply; provision.


Emperor palm

The plant depicted on the flag of Haiti.


wine palm

Borassus flabellifer
Borassus flabellifer#Translingual

Any of several palms that have a sugary sap that can be fermented to produce palm wine; especially the fishtail palm (Caryota urens) and the palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer).


bluestem grass

en-noun

bluestem grass (usually uncountable, plural bluestem grasses)

Any of several grasses that are adapted to high light levels.

Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and others of the genus Schizachyrium.

Schizachyrium scoparium
Schizachyrium scoparium#Translingual

Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi) and others of the genus Andropogon

Andropogon gerardi
Andropogon gerardi#Translingual

Cane bluestem, Caucasian bluestem and others of the genus Bothriochloa.


bromegrass

bromegrass (countable and uncountable, plural bromegrasses)

Any of various North American grasses, of the genus Bromus, that are used for forage.


milo

milo (countable and uncountable, plural milos)

Probably related to Portuguese milho (“millet”). In early European accounts, millet and sorghum were often confused.

When he does talk, it's always about the farm: the milo is doing poorly this year, the corn has a blight[…]


oat grass

oat grass (usually uncountable, plural oat grasses)

Any of various grasses resembling oats:
Arrhenatherum species

Any of various grasses resembling oats:
Avenula species

Danthonia californica, California oatgrass

Any of various grasses resembling oats:
Trisetum species


cornball

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-cornball.wav

How large and inviting were the cornballs that piled the platter, and how crisp and glossy the braids and twists of molasses candy that mother and cousin had made when the little ones were snug in bed.

A ball of popped corn stuck together with soft candy from molasses or sugar.

(US, informal) An unsophisticated person.

Who's this cornball, man?

(US, African-American Vernacular, informal) A corny person; an uncool, stupid, or lame person.


couch grass

/ˈkaʊt͡ʃˌɡɹæs/

/ˈkuːt͡ʃɡɹɑːs/

But the trouble was pervasive and deep-rooted as couch-grass.

1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Canongate, published 2006, page 145:

The old couple who had lived there hadn't been able to do much and the garden was a wilderness of couch-grass and dandelion.

1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 82:

Elymus repens
Elymus repens#Translingual

A species of grass, Elymus repens, usually considered a weed.


teff

teff (countable and uncountable, plural teffs)

Eragrostis tef
Eragrostis tef#Translingual

A love grass, Eragrostis tef, with small seeds, grown as a cereal and for forage in Ethiopia and parts of Arabia.


love grass

Any of several grasses, of the genus Eragrostis, grown as a forage crop or to protect against erosion


Neanthe bella palm

Neanthe bella palm (plural Neanthe bella palms)

A parlour palm (Chamaedorea elegans), a rare small seed-producing palm tree, used in gardens and as a houseplant.


seed corn

(agriculture) Seed that is saved from one year's harvest for the subsequent year's planting, rather than being used to make flour etc.


quitch

From Middle English quich, a palatised variant of quike, quyke, from Old English cwice, from Proto-West Germanic *kwikwā, from Proto-Germanic *kwikwǭ. Cognate with Dutch kweek, German Low German Queek, German Quecke.

we found the bones and ashes half mortered unto the sand and sides of the Urne; and some long roots of Quich, or Dogs-grass wreathed about the bones.

1658, Sir Thomas Browne, Urne-Burial, Penguin, published 2005, page 21:

Elymus repens, couch grass (a species of grass, often considered a weed)


indica

From Latin indica, from being associated with the Indian Subcontinent.

The isograms were typical of differences between two subspecies but also of those between different lines of japonicas or indicas.

1986, Rice Genetics: Proceedings of the International Rice Genetics Symposium, 27-31 May 1985, International Rice Research Institute:

Any of the indica subspecies of the rice, Oryza sativa, which (unlike the japonica or sinica subspecies) are non-sticky and long-grained.

Most commonly grown strains of cannabis are sativa, indica, or a hybrid of the two. Sativas have long skinny leaves; indicas have short, fat, stubby leaves.

2008, J. C. Stitch, Marijuana Garden Saver: Handbook for Healthy Plants:

Cannabis indica
Cannabis indica#Translingual

Marijuana of the species Cannabis indica.


acai

Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese açaí, borrowed from Nheengatu wasaí.

etymon

acai berry, the fruit of these trees, harvested for its juice.


tule

From Spanish tule, from Classical Nahuatl tōllin (“bulrush, sedge”).

uder

This consisted of a two-room house built of chittim poles, with no floor, a thatched roof of tules, and a windbreak of buffalo and cowhides to the north of it.

1964, John Hendrix, If I Can Do It Horseback: A Cow-Country Sketchbook, page 40:

(US) Any of a number of large freshwater sedges of western North America formerly classified in the genus Scirpus, but now mostly as Schoenoplectus

A type of chinook salmon which spawns in the Columbia River basin


gramineous

en-adj

gramineous (comparative more gramineous, superlative most gramineous)

more gramineous (comparative)
most gramineous (superlative)

Wild oats and greenfoxtail are among the most troublesome weeds for farmers growing gramineous crops, such as wheat, barley, rye, triticale and other cereal crops.

1990 September 4, Ronald S. Pidskalny, Paul G. Kneeshaw (inventors), Herbicidal composition and method for safening gramineous crops against heterocyclic phenyl ethers, US Patent 4954161A:

Of or pertaining to plants in the grass family (Gramineae, Poaceae).


pollard

From poll (“head, scalp”) + -ard. The coin sense derives from the original penny's uncrowned obverse bust, as opposed to the laurel-wreathed form appearing on the rosary. The verb derives from the noun.

(now Australia) A fine grade of bran including some flour. The fine cell layer between bran layers and endosperm, used for animal feed.


palm sugar

en-noun

palm sugar (countable and uncountable, plural palm sugars)

sugar made from the sap of various species of palm tree, family Arecaceae.

gula habang

sugar made from the sap of the palm tree


spinifex

spinifex (countable and uncountable, plural spinifexes)

From translingual Spinifex (genus name), from Latin spina (“spine”) + Latin -fex (“maker”) (from Latin facere (“to make”)).

And there will be Ethel watching, just standing there, stirring something on the kitchen stove, or dusting the mahogany sideboard, or polishing the silver, and looking out the window, staring, just staring, as though she were watching the spinifex growing, or the sky hanging there, just staring with that terrible effrontery of someone who will not deign to react.

1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, Virago Press, paperback edition, page 269:

(Australia) Any of several spiny grass species of the genus Triodia, endemic to arid outback Australia.


black cardamom

An Asiatic plant of species Amomum subulatum, whose pods are used as a spice in Indian cuisine.


arborio rice

/ɑːˈbɔːɹɪ.əʊ ˈɹaɪs/

/ɑɹˈbɔɹi.oʊ ˈɹaɪs/

Borrowed from Italian arborio, from Arborio, a town in Piedmont; the toponym is most likely linked to Latin arboreus (“wooden, tree-like”). Compare English arboreous.

A tasting of risottos prepared with different rices — including arborio, carnaroli and vialone nano — will be on the menu, at $45 a person: (212) 265-5959.

2007 February 28, Florence Fabricant, “Food Calendar”, in New York Times:

A northern Italian variety of short-grained starchy rice with a white dot at the center of each grain, commonly used in risotto.


bamboo

bamboo (countable and uncountable, plural bamboos)

→ Albanian: bambu

→ Finnish: bambu

→ Greek: μπαμπού (bampoú)

→ Guugu Yimidhirr: bambu

→ Russian: бамбу́к (bambúk) (or Dutch bamboe or French bambou) (see there for further descendants)

→ Welsh: bambŵ

Etymology tree
Proto-Dravidian *wēmpu
Tamil வேம்பு (vēmpu)bor.
Proto-Dravidian *wēmpu
Kannada ಬಂಬು (bambu)bor.
Malay bambubor.
Portuguese bambubor.
Dutch bamboebor.
English bamboo
Borrowed from Dutch bamboe, from Portuguese bambu, from Malay bambu, from Kannada ಬಂಬು (bambu), variant form of ಬೇವು (bēvu). Cognate with Malayalam വേപ്പ് (vēppŭ), Telugu వేప (vēpa), from Proto-Dravidian *wēmpu (“neem”).

etymon

British East India Company
British East India Company

(slang) A member of the British military or British East India Company who spent so much time in Indonesia, India, or Malaysia that they never went back home.


melic

→ Welsh: meligwellt (“melic”)

From translingual Melica (genus name), probably from Italian melica, meliga (“sorghum, millet”).

Any of various grasses, of the genus Melica, from northern temperate regions.


miscanthus

From translingual Miscanthus (“genus name”).

On the four sides of the box are autumnal plants — asters, patrinias, crawfudias, miscanthuses, eupatoriiuns, platycodons, and chrysanthemums, among which butterflies hover.

1930, Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, volumes 28-32, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, page 23:

These miscanthuses are magnificent plants, great green mounds getting taller and taller through the summer and fall,[…].

2006, James Raimes, Gardening at Ginger: My Seven-Year Obsession with Designing and Planting a Personal Landscape, page 33:

Two species, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and giant miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus), are of interest as dedicated energy crops as both have great biomass production potential.

2014, D. K. Lee, Allen S. Parrish, Thomas B. Voigt, “Chapter 3: Switchgrass and Giant Miscanthus Agronomy”, in Yogendra Shastri, Alan Hansen, Luis Rodríguez, K.C. Ting, editors, Engineering and Science of Biomass Feedstock Production and Provision, page 37:

Any of several perennial grasses, of genus Miscanthus, native to subtropical and tropical regions of Africa and southern Asia, which is cultivated as an ornamental plant and is being used as a source of biomass for the production of biofuel.


sandbur

Any of several grasses, of the genus Cenchrus, found in the south-eastern United States, that has a spiny burr


japonica

From New Latin japonica, the species name.

Any of several plants originally native to Japan.


saba

Musa acuminata
Musa acuminata#Translingual

A triploid hybrid banana cultivar from the Philippines (Musa acuminata × Musa balbisiana).


cheatgrass

en-noun

cheatgrass (countable and uncountable, plural cheatgrasses)

/ˈt͡ʃiːtɡɹɑːs/

From cheat + grass (reputedly because farmers felt cheated when wheat yields were lower because of cheatgrass invading their fields).

Bromus tectorum
Bromus tectorum#Translingual

Bromus tectorum, drooping brome, native to Europe, thought to create an ecology prone to annual fires in many US areas.


coralberry

coralberry (countable and uncountable, plural coralberries)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-coralberry.wav

American winterberry
American winterberry

Ilex verticillata
Ilex verticillata#Translingual

American winterberry, Ilex verticillata.


corn-dodger

A cake made of the meal of Indian corn, wrapped in a covering of husks or paper, and baked under the embers.


proso

Examples are corn, sorghum, wheat, oats, millet, soybeans, and proso.

1973, Dan Herndon Jordan, Soil Survey of Cherokee, Gilmer, and Pickens Counties, Georgia:

Panicum miliaceum
Panicum miliaceum#Translingual

Panicum miliaceum, a grass used as a crop.


vetiver

vetiver (countable and uncountable, plural vetivers)

From French vétyver (older spelling) or vétiver, from Tamil வெட்டிவேர் (veṭṭivēr).

der

Tamil வெட்டிவேர் (veṭṭivēr)

Two types of vetiver have been found in India – (i) flowering or seeding vetiver which grows wild in North India, and (ii) non-flowering or non-seeding vetiver which is cultivated in South India.

2003, Anand Akhila, Mumkum Rani, “4: Chemical Conatituents and Essential Oil Biogenisis in Vetiveria zizanioides”, in Massimo Maffei, editor, Vetiveria: The Genus Vetiveria, page 73:

2007, R. Sinha, et al., Phytoremediation: Role of Plants in Site Management, S.N. Singh, R. D. Tripathi, Environmental Bioremediation Technologies, page 328,
Vetiver can easily thrive in wetlands and can be used in the constructed wetlands for removal of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) and heavy metals from the polluted storm water, municipal and industrial wastewater, and effluents from abattoirs, feedlots, piggeries and other intensive livestock industries.

Vetiver barriers are planted in 0.50–1m wide strips to minimize the land area under the barrier. Vetiver grass is the only species that is effective for controlling soil erosion on steep terrains (30 and 60% slope). Vetiver strips are also used as windbreaks.

2008, Humberto Blanco-Canqui, Principles of Soil Conservation and Management, page 237:

Chrysopogon zizanioides
Chrysopogon zizanioides#Translingual

The grass Chrysopogon zizanioides (synonym Vetiveria zizanioides), which is native to India, but planted throughout the tropics for its fragrant roots and for erosion control.


hushpuppy

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hushpuppy.wav

Perhaps because they were once thrown to hungry dogs to quieten them.

(Southern US) A small deep-fried cornmeal cake.


graminivore

An herbivorous animal, a grazer, that feeds primarily on grasses.


cereology

From Ceres (“Roman goddess of agriculture”) + -ology.

suffix

[…] the array of experts who have collaborated to found the Centre for Crop Circle Studies and co-author The Crop Circle Enigma, the parents of cereology […]

1990 October–December, New Scientist, volume 128, London: New Science Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 61:

The result of all this has been to throw the world of cereology into a state of total confusion. All its previous certainties have been demolished.

1991, “Editorial notes”, in The Cereologist: The Journal for Crop Circles Studies, Shepton Mallet, Somerset: The Cereologist, OCLC 877349523, page 5; quoted in Gordon Stein, “Crop Circles”, in The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal, Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1996, ISBN 978-1-57392-021-6, page 185, column 1

Saucer enthusiasts argued that the cropland patterns marked the landing spots of UFOs bearing visitors from space. Believers in the paranormal claimed the circles radiated mysterious energy forces. The patterns spawned a kind of intellectual cottage industry: no fewer than 35 Britons claim to be experts on the phenomenon. A new scientific discipline, cereology, emerged. It is practiced by members of the Circles Effect Research Unit, a privately funded group headed by Wiltshire-based physicist Terence Meaden.

1991 September 23, Leon Jaroff, “It happens in the best circles”, in Time, archived from the original on 2016-11-11:

The world needed to be educated about the mysteries of cereology, and that knowledge base had not been disseminated widely enough for my more "unusual" theories to be accepted, or at least considered, with reason and open-mindedness.

2003, Colin Andrews, Stephen J. Spignesi, “The Path”, in Crop Circles: Signs of Contact, Franklin Lakes, N.J.: New Page Books, →ISBN, page 29, column 1:

The investigation, or practice, of creating crop circles.


water chestnut

en-noun

water chestnut (countable and uncountable, plural water chestnuts)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-water chestnut.wav

Chinese water chestnut
Chinese water chestnut

Eleocharis dulcis
Eleocharis dulcis#Translingual

(uncountable) Chinese water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis), grown for its edible corm, used in Asian cooking.


pozole

pozole (countable and uncountable, plural pozoles)

From Spanish pozole, from Classical Nahuatl pozolli (“stew of maize kernels”).

der

A traditional Mexican soup, made from hominy, pork, chilli and other ingredients.


kernel corn

(US) Kernels of maize, either frozen or canned


brome

en-noun

brome (countable and uncountable, plural bromes)

From New Latin Bromus, from Ancient Greek βρόμος (brómos, “oat, wild oat”).

der

(barren brome, great brome, soft-brome) droe


creamed corn

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-creamed corn.wav

A food consisting of cooked, partially pureed, sweet corn.


sweet corn

en-noun

sweet corn (countable and uncountable, plural sweet corns)

Any of many varieties of corn (specifically maize) most suitable for eating by humans, as distinguished from corn raised as animal feed; usually with higher sugar content than field corn.


samp

samp (countable and uncountable, plural samps)

From Massachusett nasamp, nasaump (“softened with water”); compare suppawn.

1675, The Captivity of Mary Rowlandson, included in The Portable North American Indian Reader, New York: Penguin Books, 1977, page 341,
I asked him to give me a little of his Broth, or Water they [Horses feet] were boiling in; he took a dish, and gave me one spoonful of Samp, and bid me take as much of the Broth as I would.

The meal, coarse or fine, is then used for samps, mushes, or batters, and cakes, thick or thin, and of many varieties and degrees of wholesomeness.

1882, The Atlantic Monthly, volume 50, page 549:

'You kids have everything but you don't appreciate it. Mom must cook you beans and samps. Do you hear? Just beans and samps. That's all. Beans and samps.'

1975, Sheila Roberts, Outside Life's Feast: Short Stories, page 18:

We remained in class until 12.45, and then had a lunch of samp, sour milk and beans, seldom meat.

1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 44:

Abigail taught her the use of the samp mortar. Samp was corn broken into coarse grains and boiled as porridge.

2004, Louise Cabral, A Pageant of Shadows, page 327:

In the area of cuisine, the Xhosa have contributed many corn recipes, most famously samp and beans (umngqusho).

2005, Fran Osseo-Asare, Food Culture in Sub-Saharan Africa, page 74:

(chiefly US) An article of food consisting of coarse ground maize, or a porridge made from it.


sticky rice

sticky rice (usually uncountable, plural sticky rices)

A variety of short-grain rice popular in South and East Asia, known for its stickiness when cooked.


ratoon

1803, John Browne Cutting, “A Succinct History of Jamaica” in Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, p. xci,
Ratoons, probably so named from a corruption of the Spanish word brotones, are suckers and sprouts, that spring from the roots of canes that have previously been cut down.

Their field tasks were somewhat easier than those of the great gang: cleaning and banking young canes, turning over trash or ratoon pieces (canes sprouting from old roots).

1926, Frank Wesley Pitman, “The Organization of Slave Labor”, in The Journal of Negro History, volume 11, number 4, page 600:

A number of very small fruits from Cayenne ratoons were recently examined.

1968, Paul C. Ekern, “Phyllotaxy of Pineapple Plant and Fruit”, in Botanical Gazette, volume 129, number 1, page 94:

Soon after harvest, new shoots emerge from axillary buds on the stubble and give rise to the ratoon crop. Initially the young shoots are dependent upon the roots of the previous crop (stool roots) but these are replaced by new shoot roots […].

2005, Patrice Cadet with Vaughan W. Spaull, “Nematode Parasites of Sugarcane”, in Michel Luc, Richard A. Sikora, John Bridge, editors, Plant Parasitic Nematodes in Subtropical and Tropical Agriculture, 2nd edition, Wallingford, Oxon., Cambridge, Mass.: CABI Publishing, →ISBN, page 646:

A shoot sprouting from the root of a cropped plant, especially sugar cane.

1660, Samuel Pepys, diary entry for 13 September, 1660, in Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, London: Henry Colburn, 1848, 3rd edition, Volume 1, p. 134,
Mr. Hawley did give me a little black rattoon, painted and gilt.


ratoon

en-verb

ratoon (third-person singular simple present ratoons, present participle ratooning, simple past and past participle ratooned)

ratoons (present singular third-person)
ratooning (participle present)
ratooned (participle past)
ratooned (past)

In the sugar areas to the north and south of the Colony cane has been known to "ratoon" for 20 to 30 years.

1893, “Resources of British Honduras”, in Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, vol. 1893, no. 82/83, p. 327:

(intransitive, of a plant) To sprout ratoons.

1969, M. Menzel; F. Wilson, "Genetic Relationships in Hibiscus Sect. Furcaria," Brittonia, vol. 21, no. 2, p. 100,
Attempts to propagate them by cuttings (of flowering shoots) and to ratoon the old plants in the greenhouse in November were unsuccessful.

(transitive) To cut a plant, especially sugar cane, so that it will produce ratoons.


kamut

Taken from kamut, a transcription found in E. A. Wallis Budge's dictionary (where it was translated as "wheat") of Egyptian kꜣmwtt (“ear of barley”), in hieroglyphic form:
k-A-m-w-t:t-M2:Z2-!

If you hear the name Kamut get excited. It's wheat. Yes, there are thousands of wheats, all members of the triticum family, but Kamut is different. It's 4,000 years old.

1999, Steve Meyerowitz, Sprouts, the Miracle Food: The Complete Guide to Sprouting, Sproutman Publications, →ISBN, page 75:

A commercial cultivar of Khorasan wheat.


cornflour

en-noun

cornflour (usually uncountable, plural cornflours)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-cornflour.wav

(British) A very fine starch powder derived from maize (US corn) used in cooking as a thickener, to keep things from sticking, or as an anti-caking agent.

A flour for baking and cooking that is ground from maize (US corn).

maisijahu

a flour for baking and cooking that is ground from maize (US corn)


glutinous rice

A variety of short-grain rice popular in Southeast and East Asia, known for its stickiness when cooked.


corn oil

A light oil extracted from corn (maize) kernels, used mainly for cooking.


graminicide

Any herbicide designed to control weedy grasses (of the former family Gramineae).


eleusine

Eleusine coracana
Eleusine coracana#Translingual

A tropical grass (Eleusine coracana, finger millet) similar to millet, grown as a food crop and also used for weaving.


phrag

Shortening of Phragmites, genus of Phragmites australis.

"Phrag is a monoculture that squeezes out all other species."
The two phrag programs have been so successful that funding for similar-scale projects is targeting other locations in the tidelands.

2008, Jim Collins, “Connecticut Tidelands”, in Yankee Magazine, page 34:

Phragmites australis
Phragmites australis#Translingual

Phragmites australis, a monoculture reed grass.


darnel

darnel (usually uncountable, plural darnels)

From Middle English darnel, dernel, from Old Northern French darnelle ( > dialectal French dernelle, darnette), of Germanic origin, possibly Proto-West Germanic *darjan (“to harm, injure”).
Related to Walloon darne, derne (“stunned, dazed, drunk”), Middle Dutch verdarnt, verdaernt (“stunned, dumbfounded, angry”). The association with being dazed or drunkenness is due to the well-known intoxicating effects of the plant.

der

With harlocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers, / Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow / In our sustaining corn.

c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]:

Lolium temulentum
Lolium temulentum#Translingual

A species of ryegrass, Lolium temulentum, often found in wheat fields and often host to a fungus intoxicating to humans and animals.

Various species of Lolium, especially as a weed in wheat fields.


ryegrass

en-noun

ryegrass (countable and uncountable, plural ryegrasses)

→ Catalan: raigràs

→ Romanian: raigras

→ Spanish: raigrás

From rye + grass. But compare English ray grass.

Perennial ryegrass is an important species for lawn seed mixes.

(countable) Any of several species of tufted grasses of the genus Lolium.


knotgrass

knotgrass (countable and uncountable, plural knotgrasses)

Polygonum aviculare
Polygonum aviculare#Translingual

An annual plant, Polygonum aviculare, found in fields and wasteland


cohune

Borrowed from Spanish cohune, perhaps from Miskito ókhún.

A palm tree of species Attalea cohune, native to South America, that produces large nuts.


acute sedge

A sedge species, Carex acuta (in Carex subg. Carex).


common sedge

common sedge (countable and uncountable, plural common sedges)

A sedge species, Carex nigra (in Carex subg. Carex).


sand sedge

sand sedge (countable and uncountable, plural sand sedges)


rare spring-sedge

rare spring-sedge (countable and uncountable, plural rare spring-sedges)

A sedge species, Carex ericetorum (in Carex subg. Carex).


glaucous sedge

A sedge species, Carex flacca (in Carex subg. Carex).


slender sedge

A sedge species, Carex lasiocarpa (in Carex subg. Carex).


mud sedge

mud sedge (countable and uncountable, plural mud sedges)


few-flowered sedge

few-flowered sedge (plural few-flowered sedges)


finger millet

finger millet (usually uncountable, plural finger millets)

A plant of species Eleusine coracana, grown as a cereal in parts of Africa and Asia.


farro

farro (countable and uncountable, plural farros)

Borrowed from Italian farro. Doublet of far.

At the Fountain restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel, near the institute, squab stuffed with fava beans and farro, an Egyptian grain, comes gilded with gold leaf[…].

2007 February 14, Florence Fabricant, “For a Chilly Winter Day, Beef Pie With Polenta Crust”, in New York Times:

All three farros are sold as a whole grain.

2019, Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker, Joy of Cooking: 2019 Edition, page 338:

Triticum turgidum
Triticum turgidum#Translingual


tallgrass

(US) Any of various tall grasses that flourish in prairie with relatively abundant water.


palm syrup

palm syrup (usually uncountable, plural palm syrups)


acha

Digitaria exilis
Digitaria exilis#Translingual

fonio, esp. Digitaria exilis (white fonio) (a cereal cultivated in western Africa)


sawgrass

Any of several Cladium species, long sedges with saw-like sharp, serrated edges, such as Cladium californicum, Cladium jamaicense, and Cladium mariscoides

Cladium californicum – California sawgrass


whangee

Any of over forty Asian grasses of the genus Phyllostachys, a genus of bamboos, hardy evergreen plants from Japan, China and the Himalayas with woody stems sometimes used to make canes and umbrella handles.


teosinte

teosinte (countable and uncountable, plural teosintes)

From French téosinte, from Spanish teocinte, from Classical Nahuatl teocintli, apparently from teōtl (“god”) + cintli (“dried maize”).

类蜀黍

any of several wild maize-like grasses of the genus Zea

Any of a few species of maize-like grasses of the genus Zea found in Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua.


foxtail

From Middle English fox-tail, equivalent to fox + tail.

A plant having a part resembling the tail of a fox or such spikelet.

Any of various grasses having bushy seed spikelets that resemble the tail of a fox

species of genus Alopecurus, foxtail grasses.

Hordeum jubatum
Hordeum jubatum#Translingual


sacaton

sacaton (countable and uncountable, plural sacatons)

/ˈsækəˌtəʊn/

A tufted perennial grass, Sporobolus airoides, grown in the southwestern United States and Mexico and used for hay and pasture in dry alkaline areas.


durra

durra (usually uncountable, plural durras)

The moonlight boy told me that it was soon time to gather the durra harvest.

2019, Marlon James, Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Hamish Hamilton, page 24:

Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor#Translingual

A kind of millet, a variety of sorghum; Indian millet (Sorghum bicolor).


barbe espagnole

Tillandsia usneoides
Tillandsia usneoides#Translingual

(dialect, Louisiana) Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides).


acai berry

A fruit that grows on the Brazilian wild palmberry tree, Euterpe olearacea, used for nutritive support as an antioxidant. It is similar in size to a grape.


chambira

Women in this remote Amazon village can weave fibers from the branch of the chambira palm tree into practically anything they need — fishing nets, hammocks, purses, skirts and dental floss.

2009 January 20, Roxana Popescu, “For Peruvians, Baskets for the U.S. Market Bring a New Way of Life”, in New York Times:

Astrocaryum chambira, a type of palm native to the Amazon rainforest, or the wood of this tree.


arundinoid

(botany) Any grass of the subfamily Arundinoideae.


basmati

basmati (countable and uncountable, plural basmatis)

From Hindi बासमती (bāsmatī, literally “fragrant”).

bor

Diwaniya is the capital of the almost completely Shiite farming province of Qadisiya, known for its marshy fields where farmers grow aromatic ambar rice, similar to India’s basmati.

2007 June 21, Alissa J. Rubin, “Shiite Rivalries Slash at a Once Calm Iraqi City”, in New York Times:

A variety of long-grain rice, notable for its fragrance.


arborio

en-noun

arborio (usually uncountable, plural arborios)

/ɑːˈbɔːɹɪ.əʊ/

/ɑɹˈbɔɹi.oʊ/


Johnson grass

Johnson grass (countable and uncountable, plural Johnson grasses)

Named after an Alabama plantation owner, Colonel William Johnson, who sowed its seeds on river-bottom farmland circa 1840.

A perennial Mediterranean grass (Sorghum halepense) cultivated for forage, but considered invasive and noxious.


einkorn wheat

einkorn wheat (countable and uncountable, plural einkorn wheats)

Borrowed from German Einkorn (literally “single grain”).

bor

2001, Bruce D. Smith, Chapter 6: The Transition to Food Production, Gary M. Feinman, T. Douglas Price (editors), Archaeology at the Millennium: A Sourcebook, Springer, 2007, Softcover, page 207,
A team of researchers from Norway, Germany, and Italy, for example, has recently pinpointed the particular populations of modern wild einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum subsp. boeoticum) that best fit the profile of those stands that probably gave rise about 10,000 years ago in the Near East to domesticated einkorn (Heun et al., 1997).

In Southwest Asia, cereals were among the first plants to be domesticated, with einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum L.), emmer wheat (T. dicoccum Schiibl.), and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) present at farming sites dating to the 9th millennium BC (Bell, 1987; Kislev, 1992; Zohary and Hopf, 2000).

2006, Terence A. Brown, Sarah Lindsay, Robin G. Allaby, “Chapter 9: Using Modern Landraces of Wheat to Study the Origins of European Agriculture”, in Timothy J. Motley, Nyree Zerega, Hugh Cross, editors, Darwin's Harvest: New Approaches to the Origins, Evolution, and Conservation of Crops, Columbia University Press, page 197:

Nevertheless, since some plants and animals were more amenable to domestication and more useful (the “founder crops” of emmer and einkorn wheat, barley, lentil, pea, chickpea, bitter vetch (Zohary and Hopf 2000); and sheep, goats, and pigs), its origin and spread within that region can be traced.

2011, Nancy H. Demand, The Mediterranean Context of Early Greek History, Wiley (Wiley-Blackwell), page 17:

If and when you do eat carbohydrate-rich foods like noodles, try to choose those made with Einkorn wheat or a wheat alternative, and be sure to eat them with protein and healthy fat, so they don't raise your blood sugar too much.

2013, Winnie Abramson, One Simple Change: Surprisingly Easy Ways to Transform Your Life, Chronicle Books, page 56:

Wheat refers to genus Triticum, of which a great number of species are cultivated. Einkorn wheat is one of them and refers to the genus^([sic – meaning species]) Triticum monococcum. It is one of the earliest cultivated forms of wheat and its husks enclose the grains tightly. The husking process of Einkorn wheat is shown in Figure 2.1.

2014, Anne Bergeret et al., “2: Valorization of Agricultural By-Products in Poly(Lactic Acid) to Develop Biocomposites”, in Vijay Kumar Thakur, editor, Green Composites from Natural Resources, Taylor & Francis (CRC Press), page 14:

A type of wheat, characterised by the presence of a single grain in each spikelet, that was cultivated in the Fertile Crescent and was one of the first grains to be domesticated; any subtype of said wheat, considered as a unit; in particular, the domesticated form.


woodrush

Any of several perennial flowering plants, of the genus Luzula, that have grass-like leaves.


shortgrass

en-noun

shortgrass (usually uncountable, plural shortgrasses)

The original centers of abundance of upland sandpipers were the shortgrass and mixed-grass prairies of the Great Plains.

1988 May 20, Jerry Sullivan, “Field & Street”, in Chicago Reader:

The set of short, tough grasses that thrive in arid plains; often specifically the native grasses of the North American Great Plains.


cogon

cogon (countable and uncountable, plural cogons)

From Spanish cogón, from Tagalog and Cebuano kugon.

Imperata cylindrica
Imperata cylindrica#Translingual

Any of several perennial rhizomatous grasses of genus Imperata, especially Imperata cylindrica.


cogon grass

cogon grass (countable and uncountable, plural cogon grasses)


cordgrass

cordgrass (countable and uncountable, plural cordgrasses)

Minutes away from downtown Cambridge, the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, a 27,000-acre expanse of sibilant cordgrass and murky channels, has one of the largest concentrations of nesting bald eagles along the Atlantic coast.

2007 September 28, Tim Neville, “Rural Waterfront Oasis That’s Not Far From Town”, in New York Times:

Any of various species of coastal wetland grass in the genus Spartina.


maizena

From Spanish in many contexts. In German contexts, from Maizena.


malagueta

/ˌmɑləˈɡweɪdə/

/ˌmɑləˈɡeɪdə/

From Portuguese malagueta, probably via Middle French malaguette, from Italian meleghetta, from Italian melega (“sorghum”) and -etta (diminutive suffix).
There are various paths by which the name could have become applied to the African pepper. Medieval Latin melegeta was an Indonesian spice called after millet on the basis of the supposed resemblance of their grains. By the mid-15th century, the West African Grain Coast was known in Portuguese as costa da malagueta, whence the place name was borrowed into other languages and applied to its local products. Early English use reports that it was the local name of the spice, long preserved around Cape Palmas, which may indicate a Mande or Kwa origin, although such use is usually attributed to loanwords from Portuguese.
The unrelated Brazilian pepper acquired the name from its similar piquancy.

In Ginney the fruit that is most rife and common... is named Maniguetta.

1568, André Thevet, translated by Thomas Hacket, The New Found Worlde, or Antarctike, Wherein Is Contained Woderful and Strange Things, 26v:

The people of the Gold Coast, when suffering from headache, rub over the forehead a paste of Malaguetta pepper.

1863, Richard F. Burton, Wanderings in West Africa, Dover Publications 1991 edition, volume II, page 37:

Grains of Paradise, Guinea Grains, Melegueta or Mallaguetta Pepper, from Ampelopsis Grana Paradisi, or Habzeli of Ethiopia... Two kinds of these grains are known in the English markets, one plumper than the other... They resemble Pepper in their effects, but are seldom used except in veterinary practice and to give strength to spirits, wine, beer, and vinegar.

1931, Maud Grieve, A Modern Herbal, volume II, page 628:

grains of paradise
grains of paradise#English

Aframomum melegueta
Aframomum melegueta#Translingual

Synonym of grains of paradise, the seeds or seed capsules of the West African Aframomum melegueta; the plant itself.


mamaliga

From Romanian mămăligă, itself of unknown origin.

A maize porridge originating in Romania.


little bluestem

Ornamental grasses (all requiring sun), like Festuca glauca and little bluestem.

2009 March 15, Michael Pollak, “Flowers on the Fringe”, in New York Times:

Schizachyrium scoparium
Schizachyrium scoparium#Translingual

A grass, Schizachyrium scoparium, native to North America, and others of the genus Schizachyrium.


big bluestem

Andropogon gerardi
Andropogon gerardi#Translingual

Andropogon gerardi, a tall bunchgrass native to the North American prairies.


cornhusk

Holonym: ear

Comeronyms: corncob, kernel


kangaroo paw

Named for the shape of the unopened flower (lower left in picture), which resembles the paws of a kangaroo.

Spring flowers everywhere—freesias in throng, and startling growths of kangaroo paw with its dark red, vividly red stalks.

1984, Helen Garner, Yellow Notebook: Diaries 1978-1987, Text Publishing, published 2022, page 118:

Any of various perennial flowering plants of the family Haemodoraceae, endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.


onion grass

onion grass (usually uncountable, plural onion grasses)

Allium vineale
Allium vineale#Translingual

Wild or feral chives, garlic, or other species with grass-like leaves in the genus Allium, particularly Allium vineale, a wild herb native to Europe and western Asia, naturalised elsewhere; a common lawn weed.


tasselseed

A mutation of maize characterized by irregular branching in its inflorescences, tassels, and ears, in addition to feminization of the tassel


bluestem

bluestem (usually uncountable, plural bluestems)

Then we were going at a lope with the bluestem whipping our legs.

2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 30:

(US) Any of various grasses having bluish stems, including little bluestem and big bluestem.

honey bluestem) (Schizachyrium scoparium

shore little bluestem

Schizachyrium scoparium subsp. littorale


bentgrass

bentgrass (countable and uncountable, plural bentgrasses)

From bent (“a type stiff grass”) + grass.

Any of numerous reedy grass species of the genus Agrostis.

Point Reyes bentgrass

Agrostis clivicola var. punta-reyesensis


coix

From New Latin, from Ancient Greek κόϊξ (kóïx, “doum palm”).

Coix lacryma-jobi
Coix lacryma-jobi#Translingual

An East Asian grass, Coix lacryma-jobi, sometimes harvested as a cereal.


Job's tears

Coix lacryma-jobi, a tall grain-bearing perennial tropical plant of the family Poaceae, native to southeast Asia.


posho

posho (usually uncountable, plural poshos)

Borrowed from Swahili posho, itself from English portion.

(East Africa) A food product made of cornmeal.


zingiberene

(biochemistry) A monocyclic sesquiterpene, the predominant constituent of the oil of ginger.


marua

A type of small-grained cereal from India, Eleusine coracana, similar to millet.


common reed

Phragmites australis, a monoculture reed grass.


zea

[…] and here the types used are principally the dwarf ones; and those plants of a greater height with decorative foliage like the zeas or variegated maize, which are used to produce the effect of sub-tropical bedding.

1948, Wilfred Edward Shewell-Cooper, Continuous Flower Growing, page 83:


grains of paradise

grains of paradise pl (normally plural, singular grain of paradise)

From medieval spice traders claiming that the spice grew only in Eden, in order to inflate prices. Cf. French graines de paradis.

...graynes of paradise, hoote & moyst þey be...

c. 1460, John Russell, The Boke of Nurture, page 126:

When I found it [Two-Penny Drink] left a hot Tang behind it, it gave me just Reason to believe they had used Grains of Paradise, or long Pepper, both which will save Malt.

1743, William Ellis, supplement to The London & Country Brewer, 2nd ed., p. 288

Guinea Grains and Grains of Paradise are considered, by the Trade, as one and the same article.

1812, James Smyth, The Practice of the Customs in the Entry, Examination, and Delivery of Goods and Merchandize, ii, p. 84:

"Gærtner has figured the fruit and seeds of a scitamineous plant under the name of Zingiber Melægueta, and which he considered to be identical with the Grains of Paradise."

1844, Jonathan Pereira, “On Grains of Paradise”, in The American Journal of Pharmacy, page 97:

...beer poisoned wi' grains o' paradise, and cocculus indicus.

1850, Charles Kingsley, chapter VIII, in Alton Locke, volume I, page 127:

"In fact this spice was making a second appearance in Europe: it was Guinea pepper, mentioned by Pliny as 'African pepper', and also known as Malaguetta pepper or grains of Paradise. Grains of Paradise had been very popular in the thirteenth century and again in the sixteenth; its popularity may have been due to the brilliant name thought up for it by some advertising genius born before his time."

1994, Anthea Bell, A History of Food, Wiley-Blackwell, translation of original by Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, →ISBN, page 495:

"Also called Melegueta or Malagueta pepper, guinea grain, or guinea pepper, grains of paradise were prized as a spice and as a substitute for black pepper in Europe during the Middle Ages."

2006, Susheela Raghavan, Handbook of Spices, Seasonings, and Flavorings, 2nd edition, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 119:

The seeds or seed capsules of Aframomum melegueta, used as a medicine and spice, especially as a substitute for black pepper and in flavoring alcoholic beverages.


nixtamal

nixtamal (usually uncountable, plural nixtamals)

From Mexican Spanish nixtamal, from Classical Nahuatl nextamalli (“hominy”), from nextli (“ashes, lime”) + tamalli (“something wrapped”).

Hominy; maize kernels which have undergone nixtamalization, that is, hulling and soaking and cooking in an alkaline solution.


medusahead

A type of bristly grass native to Europe, Taeniatherum caput-medusae


sabal

From the genus name Sabal, of uncertain origin.
it might be from Arabic “sabal” سبل سنبلة سنابل meaning “wheat plant”

Any palm of the genus Sabal of American dwarf fan palms; usually called palmetto.


lawngrass

lawngrass (countable and uncountable, plural lawngrasses)


carpet grass

carpet grass (countable and uncountable, plural carpet grasses)

Any of various grasses of the genus Axonopus, of tropical and subtropical American, some of which are rhizomatous; now widespread throughout the tropics worldwide.


centipede grass

centipede grass (countable and uncountable, plural centipede grasses)

Eremochloa ophiuroides, a coarse thick lawngrass with short upright stems, native to southern China and later introduced to the United States.


paspalum

From translingual Paspalum (genus name), from Koine Greek πάσπαλος (páspalos, “type of millet”).

der

We returned to the crossing, passing slowly through the high rusty stands of dock weeds and the fleshy beds of dense paspalum.

1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 249:

The paspalum blades they had walked over were mostly intact, green leaves with near-invisible lines of teeny tiny veins running the length of them, delivering food and water, same as veins did for a person.

2018, Melissa Lucashenko, Too Much Lip, University of Queensland Press, published 2023, page 61:

Any member of the genus Paspalum of tall perennial grasses, the bahiagrasses or Dallis grasses.


zoysiagrass

en-noun

zoysiagrass (countable and uncountable, plural zoysiagrasses)


baby corn

baby corn (countable and uncountable, plural baby corns)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-baby corn.wav

Young ears of maize/corn, especially those immature enough to be eaten whole as a vegetable.


sagamité

sagamité (countable and uncountable, plural sagamités)

/səˌɡɑ.məˈteɪ/

Borrowed from Canadian French sagamité, from an Algonquian language; compare Cree ᑭᓵᑲᒥᑌᐚᐳᕀ (kisaakamitewaapoy, “hot water”).

cog

Hulled Indian corn, or a stew made of this.


sago palm

Any palm or palmlike plant which yields sago, especially Metroxylon sagu and Cycas revoluta (a gymnosperm not closely related to palm trees).


salak

Any salak palm (Salacca zalacca), native to Indonesia; also called.


molasses cane

en-noun

molasses cane (usually uncountable, plural molasses canes)

(US, Appalachia) A plant, commonly sugar cane, maize or corn, sorghum (maize or milo), or other another fructose-producing grass plant (of the family Gramineae) used for the production of cane syrup or molasses.


busaa

An African alcoholic drink made from sorghum, maize, or millet-flour


corncake

To serve, place a corncake on each plate and top with 3 slices of bacon.

2009 August 30, “Iroquois White-Corn Cakes With Maple Syrup and Bacon”, in New York Times:


areca

Via Portuguese from Malayalam അടയ്ക്ക (aṭaykka), itself from Proto-Dravidian *aṭ-ay-kkāy (“areca nut”).

der

Any member of the genus Areca of about fifty species of single-stemmed palms in the family Arecaceae, found in humid tropical forests.


nixtamalization

Nixtamalization, a traditional Mexican process for making tortillas, consists of cooking maize grain in excess water and lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)₂), at temperatures near boiling, followed by steeping.

2014, John F. Leslie, Antonio Logrieco, editors, Mycotoxin Reduction in Grain Chains, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 124:

A process for the preparation of maize (corn) in which the grain is soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution, usually limewater, and hulled.


atole

en-noun

atole (usually uncountable, plural atoles)

From Spanish atole, from Classical Nahuatl ātōlli.

"Pan fino, pan bianco!" screams the baker; and other cries from the vendors of atole, huevos, and leche, are uttered in shrill, discordant voices.

Since the days of the Tarascans, the corn-loving folks of Michoacan have enjoyed atole, a maize-based gruel flavored with chocolate, fruit, tamarind, or herbs.

2006 January 13, David Hammond, “Beyond the Burrito, Part 2: Michoacan”, in Chicago Reader:

Visitors can learn to make their own tortillas or sample the traditional cornmeal drink atole.

2007 April 13, S. Kirk Walsh, “Festivals With a Mexican Flair”, in New York Times:

A sweetened thick drink or thin gruel made from cornmeal, served hot.


eragrostis

Springing up between the carrot-seed during the first season were the long frail, feathery stalks of the wind-blown eragrostis, a lush sweet grass.

1969, Bessie Head, When Rain Clouds Gather, Heinemann, published 1995, page 28:

Any of several species of grass from the genus Eragrostis; lovegrass.


oil palm

We […] could see a chain of islands in the distance ahead of us: the tall oil palm trees were like flags waving us in.

2010, Helon Habila, Oil on Water, AudioGO (2011), page 79:

Elaeis guineensis
Elaeis guineensis#Translingual

A plant of species Elaeis guineensis, principal source of palm oil and palm kernel oil.


areca nut

It was the custom for the Englishmen to bring auspicious gifts, like areca-nuts and saffron, as well as bills and bullion.

2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 87:

Holding out a tray with betel leaves and areca nut, they knelt before the strapping young boys.

2011, Arupa Patangia Kalita, translated by Deepika Phukan, The Story of Felanee:

The seed of the areca palm (not a true nut but a drupe), chewed as a mild stimulant.


kettle corn

A sweet and salty variety of popcorn with the addition of granulated sugar, salt, and oil.


cabbage palm

Any of several different types of palms and palm-like plants.

(Australia) Any of several palms of the genera Corypha and Livistona of northeastern and central Australia.

Corypha utan, an East Asian fan palm (including Northern Australia)


zingerone

zingerone (usually uncountable, plural zingerones)

(organic chemistry) A crystalline solid organic compound that gives ginger its pungent taste.


pearl millet

pearl millet (usually uncountable, plural pearl millets)

Cenchrus americanus
Cenchrus americanus#Translingual

Pennisetum glaucum
Pennisetum glaucum#Translingual

A widely grown millet (Cenchrus americanus, syn. Pennisetum glaucum).


proso millet

proso millet (usually uncountable, plural proso millets)

From any Slavic language, from Proto-Slavic *proso.

Panicum miliaceum
Panicum miliaceum#Translingual

Panicum miliaceum, a grass species used as a crop.


foxtail millet

foxtail millet (countable and uncountable, plural foxtail millets)

Setaria italica
Setaria italica#Translingual

The second-most widely planted species of millet, Setaria italica, which is the most important species of millet in East Asia.

browntop millet

Urolchloa ramosa, syn. Brachiaria ramosa


triticum

triticum (countable and uncountable, plural triticums)

The Characteriſticks of the Triticums, or Wheat-corns, are, according to Ray, that they are culminiferous, graminifolious Herbs, having an imperfect Flower; which culminiferous Herbs or Plants, are thoſe which have a large Grain, or thoſe which have a ſmall one: All which are annual. [Note:] The Character of the Triticums.

1734, “Of the ſeveral Species of Wheat and Rye; their Etymology, Character, &c. together with the true Seaſons of Sowing, and Soil proper for each Species”, in The Practical Husbandman and Planter: or, Observations on the Ancient and Modern Husbandry, Planting and Gardening; […], volumes II: “Containing July, August and September”, number IV: “for July”, London: […] S. Switzer, […], page 117:

All the present triticums are hardy exotic annuals,—four of them varying in height from 6 to 24 inches, and possessing very little interest, and the rest varying in height from 2+¹⁄₂ to 6 feet, and ranging in value from inferior economical plants cultivable only in their native regions to the richest cereal grasses of all the temperate parts of the civilized world.[…]The Romans of the time of the Cæsars were well acquainted with the advantages of classifying wheats into widely different varieties, and of severally using these for the soils and seasons to which they were respectively best adapted; and they seem generally to have arranged them into two great groups under the names of triticum and far, and to have divided each of these into several kinds. See the article Far. “Columella mentions three kinds of triticum.[…]He adds, that it is necessary to have all these kinds both of triticum and far, as it seldom happens that a farm is so situated, that one kind is proper for every part of it; there being, almost in every farm, both wet and dry lands. Almost all the rustic writers agree in this, that far is most proper for wet clay land, and triticum for dry land. ‘In wet red clays,’ says Cato, ‘sow far; and in dry, clean, and open lands, sow triticum.’ ‘Therefore,’ says Varro, ‘skilful husbandmen in their wet lands sow far, rather than triticum.’ Columella says, ‘that triticum thrives best on dry land, and that far is less hurt by wetness.’ Though triticum, in general, is represented as best adapted to dry soils, yet that kind of it called siligo is mentioned as proper enough for wet lands. Columella joins it with far, when he says, ‘wet and stiff clays do well enough for siligo and far.’ He observes that siligo is the whitest kind of the triticum, but inferior in weight,—that it answers very well in a wet seed time, and is proper for land over which water is in danger of running; and he adds, that it may be got with very little difficulty, as triticum, when sown upon land that lies low and wet, after the fourth crop, is turned into it. Pliny likewise observes that the siligo is proper for wet lands; and he mentions some soils on which it is turned into triticum.”

1849, “WHEAT”, in John M. Wilson, editor, The Rural Cyclopedia, or a General Dictionary of Agriculture, and of the Arts, Sciences, Instruments, and Practice, Necessary to the Farmer, Stockfarmer, Gardener, Forester, Landsteward, Farrier, &c., volumes IV: “Q–Z”, Edinburgh: A. Fullarton and Co., […], pages 660, column 2; 661, columns 1–2:

It was for some time considered that wheat belonged to the genus triticum, perhaps from the form of its spike of flowers and the peculiar flavour of its herbage: this latter fact, which becomes apparent upon crushing the leaves of a young wheat plant or leaves of the couch—triticum repens—in a peculiar disagreeable odour, is, doubtless, derivable from the presence of an essential oil, to which we may perhaps attribute the medicinal properties which cause the emetic action on dogs; and this unison of quality in the herbage of wheat and the wild triticums would at least lead to the inference of the affinity of the plants producing it.

1856, The Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, volume the seventeenth, London: John Murray, […], page 174:

And strange to say, Eppie, the recluse of the garret, who had not set her foot on a green thing growing beyond the orchard for many a year and day, even she gave eager interest and stimulus to the girl’s pursuit, and with spectacles on nose peered into triticums and anemones brought from the mountain, and into apple blossoms, and even into dandelions and buttercups gathered in the orchard, for want of rarer flowers.

1881, Margaret Murray Robertson, “Chapter VII”, in Frederica and Her Guardians: or the Perils of Orphanhood, London: Hodder and Stoughton, […], page 92:

Another indefinite name of travellers is “bunch grass,” is given to any kind that forms clumps or tufts; festucas, boutelouas, triticums, and eriocoma all bear this name.—Grasses regarded as Weeds.

1881, “GRASSES”, in George Ripley, Charles A. Dana, editors, The American Cyclopædia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge, volumes VIII: “Glasgow–Hortense”, New York: D. Appleton and Company, […], page 169, column 1:

Dr. Ann has a long list of stories and testimonials from guests who improved their health with the help of wheatgrass. Wheatgrass and its sister triticum barley, have by testimony, helped guests with ailments like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, gastritis, stomach ulcers, pancreas and liver troubles, asthma, glaucoma, eczema, skin problems, constipation, hemorrhoids, diverticulitis, colitis, fatigue, female problems, arthritis, athlete’s foot, anemia, bad breath/body odor, and burns.[…]But barley, wheat, oats, Kamut, and rye are all brother and sister triticums.

2006, Steve Meyerowitz, Wheatgrass: Nature’s Finest Medicine: The Complete Guide to Using Grasses to Revitalize Your Health, 7th edition, Sproutman Publications, →ISBN, page 34 (“The Pioneers”), 59 (“Research”):

A plant of the genus Triticum (wheat and related cereals).


Yorkshire fog

A tall, perennial grass, Holcus lanatus, sometimes used as forage.


humita

Borrowed from Spanish humita, from Quechua humint'a.

The Ecuadorean offerings are the best, particularly the humitas, steamed cornhusk tamales stuffed with a moist and fresh filling of sweet corn.

2008 February 3, “Where the Twain Meet”, in New York Times:

A traditional food of South America, consisting of masa harina dough and corn slowly cooked in oil.


golden rice

A variety of Oryza sativa rice produced through genetic engineering to biosynthesize beta-carotene, a precursor of provitamin A, and intended as a humanitarian tool to combat vitamin A deficiency.


Kikuyu grass

Kikuyu grass (usually uncountable, plural Kikuyu grasses)

So named as it is native to the highland regions of East Africa where the Kikuyu people live.

Bo pulled the Pajero off the road and parked on a patch of scuffed kikuyu grass in front of a small weatherboard house.

2002, Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country, Allen & Unwin, published 2003, page 64:

A tropical grass, Pennisetum clandestinum, native to Kenya and now a common lawn grass and invasive species elsewhere.


nipa

The perennial saltgrass nipa (Distichlis palmeri, Poaceae) is endemic to northern Gulf of California tidal marshes flooded with hypersaline seawater.

2012, S.L. Pearlsteina, R.S. Felgera, E.P. Glenna, J. Harringtond, K.A. Al-Ghaneme, S.G. Nelson, “Nipa (Distichlis palmeri): A perennial grain crop for saltwater irrigation”, in Journal of Arid Environments, →DOI, page 60:

Once a staple of the Cocopa people, wild populations of nipa have been greatly reduced due to dams and other watershed disruptions.

2013 April 17, Eric Toensmeier, “Perennial Cereal Grains: A Promise Requiring Patience and Prioritization”, in Perennial Solutions:

Distichlis palmeri, a saltgrass native to the Sonoran Desert of Mexico and the United States, Palmer's grass.


toddy palm

The toddy palms and neem trees and mangoes and peepul that were hidden behind the bazaars now become visible and in their turn hide the bazaars.

1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin, published 2005, page 6:

Any of several species of palm used to produce toddy or palm wine.


palm wine

palm wine (countable and uncountable, plural palm wines)

A genre of popular music most closely associated with mid-20th-century Sierra Leone.


miriti

Studies of women and babies accounted for several more pages, and then there was an unbroken series of animal drawings with such explanations as "Manatee upon Sandbank," "Turtles and Their Eggs," "Black Ajouti under a Miriti Palm" - the matter disclosing some sort of pig-like animal; and finally came a double page of studies of long-snouted and very unpleasant saurians.

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:


gingerol

gingerol (usually uncountable, plural gingerols)

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒəɹɒl/

(organic chemistry) Any of several isomeric compounds responsible for the heat of ginger


ant rattan

Any species of rattan frequently inhabited by ants, especially Korthalsia rostrata (syn. Korthalsia scaphigera).


eddish

eddish (countable and uncountable, plural eddishes)

Uncertain; but probably from Middle English eddish (found often in compounds: e.g. eddish-hen (“eddish-hen, quail”)), ultimately from Old English edisc (“an eddish or aftermath; pasture; enclosed pasture, park”), equivalent to ed- + -ish.

inh

found often in compounds: e.g. <i class="Latn mention" lang="enm">eddish-hen</i> (“eddish-hen, quail”)

The hay was gathered from the fields, and the cattle turned onto the eddish.

1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 1”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

An aftergrowth of grass (or other plants) which grows after it has been mowed; also, a field of such growth.


bunchgrass

en-noun

bunchgrass (countable and uncountable, plural bunchgrasses)

With every day, as he kept moving north, bunchgrass became more abundant, and eventually the land turned yellow.

2017, Hernan Diaz, In the Distance, Daunt Books (2018), page 135:

Any of various grasses of the family Poaceae that grow in clumps rather than forming a sod or mat.


dropseed

Any member of the genus Sporobolus of bunchgrasses.


yardgrass

The yardgrass (Eleusine indica) has similarly spread along roadside verges in western Africa and other tropical regions.

1991, David Moresby Moore, Plant Life, page 34:

Eleusine indica
Eleusine indica#Translingual

Eleusine indica, a coarse annual grass often found as a weed


bromelein

(biochemistry) A proteolytic enzyme found in pineapples


quackgrass

quackgrass (countable and uncountable, plural quackgrasses)

Alteration of quickgrass, a variant of quitchgrass.

Elymus repens
Elymus repens#Translingual

couch grass (a species of grass, Elymus repens)


witchgrass

witchgrass (usually uncountable, plural witchgrasses)

Any of several grasses, of the genus Panicum, often found as a weed.


dumble

Recently Dr. K. J. Allison has come across a Leconfield lease of 1631 which included 'all the earl 's dumbles growing in Arram Carr' ?

1974, The Local Historian - Volume 11, page 64:

In such circumstances it may well be that a natural pool would be enlarged or deepened or an artificial pond created to maintain a suitable habitat for the rush. Later archival references to the rush “dumbles" are for the River Hull valley.

1982, Lore and Language - Volume 3, Parts 6-10, page 54:

The item from Elizabeth Hotham's account book does not state where the dumbles grew, but in a later account book of Sir Charles Hotham Arram Carr is specified.

1988, Charles Oodrington Pressick Hobkirk, George Taylor Porritt, William Denison Roebuck, The Naturalist - Issues 984-999, page 58:


zean

Former trade name. See Zea (“genus of grasses”).

(medicine, archaic) A highly concentrated fluid extract of cornsilk used as a diuretic and urinary antiseptic.


nutsedge

(US) Any of certain species of invasive perennial sedge, of the genus Cyperus, that have edible, nutlike tubers.


speargrass

speargrass (countable and uncountable, plural speargrasses)

Any of several not closely related grasses in some way reminiscent of a spear.

Species of Aristida (three-awn wiregrass)

Species of Stipa (feathergrass), typically Stipa calamagrostis


graminaceous

en-adj

graminaceous (comparative more graminaceous, superlative most graminaceous)

more graminaceous (comparative)
most graminaceous (superlative)

Of, pertaining to, or resembling a grass.


phragmites

From Latin phragmītēs, from Ancient Greek φραγμίτης (phragmítēs).

Any of several perennial reeds, of the genus Phragmites, found in wetlands.


pickerelweed

(US) Any of several freshwater plants, of the genus Pontederia, that have heart-shaped leaves


dayflower

Any of several plants, of the genus Commelina, whose flowers last only a day

Benghal dayflower Commelina benghalensis


olay

en-noun

olay (countable and uncountable, plural olays)

In the Peninsula of India, the Olay are prepared from the leaves of the palmyra palm.

1885, Edward Balfour, Cyclopaedia of India:

palm leaves, prepared for being written upon with a steel-tipped stylus


rooigras

(South Africa) A perennial grass, Themeda triandra, that has large red-brown spikelets


goosegrass

goosegrass (countable and uncountable, plural goosegrasses)

Any of various grasses, sometimes used as food for geese, principally in genus Eleusine.


spoonbread

spoonbread (countable and uncountable, plural spoonbreads)

Black folk ain't goin' to be free, they ain't goin' to have no spoonbread and sweet cider less'n they studies to love they own selves.

1967, William Styron, The Confessions of Nat Turner, Vintage, published 2004, page 303:

(Southern US) Bread made from corn and eggs, of a soft consistency such that it is served with a spoon.

начинка

maize-based dish served in lieu of bread


pipewort

Any of several aquatic plants of the genus Eriocaulon.


browntop

browntop (countable and uncountable, plural browntops)

Agrostis capillaris
Agrostis capillaris#Translingual


zedoary

zedoary (countable and uncountable, plural zedoaries)

/ˈzɛdəʊˌɛɹi/

From Medieval Latin zedoārium, from Arabic جَدْوَار (jadwār), from Classical Persian ژدوار (žadwār).

Curcuma zedoaria
Curcuma zedoaria#Translingual

Curcuma zedoaria, a perennial herb native to India and Indonesia.


goatgrass

goatgrass (countable and uncountable, plural goatgrasses)

Any of various wheatlike grasses of the genus Aegilops.


palmarosa

palmarosa (countable and uncountable, plural palmarosas)

A plant related to lemongrass, but with a rose fragrance, of species Cymbopogon martini.


cornhusker

(usually capitalized) A person who is a native or resident of the U.S. state of Nebraska.


queen palm

Syagrus romanzoffiana, a medium-sized palm native to South America, widely planted in the tropics and subtropics for the fine texture of its fronds


amomum

Any of several spices of genus Amomum, family Zingiberaceae, including cardamom.


off-corn

Waste or inferior corn thrown out during dressing.


Junegrass

Junegrass (countable and uncountable, plural Junegrasses)


puya

A group of books written in Ancient Meitei language, mostly sacred to Sanamahism.


puya

From Spanish puya, from Mapudungun puüya.

The puya is a strange form of bromeliad, and the giant species grows ever so slowly for between 30 and 100 years and then sends a flower spike covered in 8000 florets about 9 metres (30 feet) up into the air, like a floral telegraph pole.

2000, Michael Bright, Wild South America, BBC Worldwide, published 2000, page 45:

(botany) A member of the genus Puya of bromeliad plants.


bromelain

(biochemistry) Either of two proteolytic enzymes, found in pineapples, that are used as meat tenderizers


spartina

spartina (usually uncountable, plural spartinas)

The spartina, which grows along a sheltered cove and makes up about 15 acres of the whole parcel, is what makes Arlington Marsh so dear, said William K. Tai, director of the park's departments natural resources group.

2007 November 7, Andy Newman, “Protecting a Wild Patch of City Marshland”, in New York Times:


heliconia

Royal palms flank a long rectangular pool, a great fallen tree forms a bridge across the water, and heliconias bloom among the elephant ears and banana shrubs.

2008 January 3, Anne Raver, “No Need to Fly South to See Blossoms in Winter”, in New York Times:

Any of the genus Heliconia of flowering plants.


shoepeg corn

From a fancied resemblance of this corn's kernels to shoepegs.

A cultivar of sweetcorn with small, narrow kernels, valued for its sweetness.


panicum

From translingual Panicum (genus name), from New Latin panicum (“panicgrass”).

And his property might remind someone of the dunes of the East End of Long Island: nine acres of artfully placed native grasses like panicum and schizachyrium and meadow plants like rudbeckia and asters.

2008 January 18, Steve Bailey, “A Weekend Home That’s Straight Out of a Dream”, in New York Times:

Any of the genus Panicum of tropical grasses.


Jupati palm

A large Brazilian palm tree (Raphia taedigera).


yellow-eyed grass

yellow-eyed grass (plural yellow-eyed grasses)


costus

Learned borrowing from Latin costus, from Ancient Greek κόστος (kóstos), from Sanskrit कुष्ठ (kuṣṭha).

A perennial tropical herbaceous plant of the genus Costus (family Costaceae).

قُسْط

Saussurea costus
Saussurea costus#Translingual

Saussurea costus, a composite growing on the Himalayas in the vicinity of Kashmir, or its root.


nocake

A respelling, probably influenced by cake, of nokehick, nokehike, which derives from an Algonquian language, probably Narragansett nokehick or Massachusett nookhik (“nocake”, literally “(that which is) pounded till soft”); the word is related to Abenaki nokhigan (“flour”), and English rokeag and yokeag.

der

If their imperious occaſions cauſe them to travell, the beſt of their victuals for their journey is Nocake, (as they call it) which is nothing but Indian Corne parched in the hot aſhes; the aſhes being ſifted from it, it is afterwards beaten to powder, and put into a long leatherne bag, truſſed at their backe like a knapſacke; out of which they take thrice three ſpoonefulls a day, dividing it into three meales.

1634, William Wood, “Of Their Dyet, Cookery, Meale-times, and Hospitality at Their Kettles”, in Nevv Englands Prospect. […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC, page 68:

A ſmall pouch of parched corn, ground or rather pounded into meal, and called Nuichicke, which is well enough tranſlated Nocake, would ſupport them ſeveral days in their travelling, when they could get no other proviſions; [...]

1760, [Thomas] Hutchinson, “Of the Original State of the Country, with Respect to the Inhabitants and Soil”, in The History of the Colony of Massachusets-Bay, […], 2nd edition, London: […] M. Richardson, […], →OCLC, page 465:

Nookhick or nokehick, the Indian name of the meal of parched corn, was pronounced nocake, by the English, who sometimes hired Indian women to prepare it for them. Winthrop says the parched corn was "turned almost inside outward, and was white and floury." It must have resembled our parched popcorn.

[1863, Sylvester Judd, chapter XXXII, in History of Hadley, including the Early History of Hatfield, South Hadley, Amherst and Granby, Massachusetts, […], Northampton, Mass.: […] Metcalf & Company, →OCLC, footnote ‡, page 366:

The Indians had not the art of making bread. Their boiled their corn [...] or they ate the parched kernels whole; or with a stone pestle and a wooden mortar they broke them up into meal, which, moistened with water into a paste, they called nookhik.¹ [Footnote 1: Nookhik, meal, (Eliot's Indian Bible,) was corrupted by the English into nocake.]

[1865, John Gorham Palfrey, chapter I, in The History of New England during the Stuart Dynasty. … In Three Volumes, volume I, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, book I (The Settlement), page 28:

This preparation of corn was called nocake or nookick. [...] It was held to be the most nourishing food known, and in the smallest and most condensed form.

1898, Alice Morse Earle, “Indian Corn”, in Home Life in Colonial Days […], New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 137:

The Puritans raised corn (or maize) which they got from the Indians; and they soon learned the virtues of "nocake"—a name derived from the Indian of noohkik. Nocake was made of selected Indian corn, parched in hot ashes, then well sifted and thoroughly pulverized. It was mixed with cold water and drunk. The early Virginians knew it as "rockahomonie." Nocake was the rudiment with which the New England folk began the study of foods prepared from Indian corn.

1920 November 1, George S. Bryan, “Good Eating in Puritan Days”, in The Mentor, volume 8, number 17 (number 213 overall), New York, N.Y.: Crowell Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 35, column 1:

[pages 5–6] In connection with the mortar and pestle, our attention is directed towards the preparation of nocake (nókek‘, corn parched and pounded) and the realization of its unsurpassed tastiness and value as a staple food. [...] [page 7] One informant confessed, of his own accord, his occasional craving for nocake, and remarked upon the individual satisfaction derived from preparing and eating it. For making nocake, Indian or "native" corn of the yellow variety is preferred.

1930 January, Gladys Tantaquidgeon, “Notes on the Gay Head Indians of Massachusetts”, in Indian Notes, volume VII, number I, New York, N.Y.: Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 5–7:

It was some time before the white man learned the red man's secret—Nocake. Undoubtedly the first American food concentrate was Nocake. Simple to prepare, easy to carry, always dependable, it was his dependence in the forests, on the trails, even on the warpath.

1962 April 3, Fred Schwengel, quoting Margo Cairns, “America’s First Food Concentrate—Nocake: Extension of Remarks of Hon. Fred Schwengel of Iowa in the House of Representatives, Monday, April 2, 1962”, in Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 87th Congress, Second Session: Appendix (United States House of Representatives), volume 108, part 23, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →ISSN, →OCLC, page A2541, column 1:

Long journeys like this, as well as quick removes, required a lightweight but nourishing ration. "Nokehick" or "nokake," the meal from parched corn described above, was the answer.

[1980, Howard S[ymmes] Russell, “The Family Meals”, in Indian New England before the Mayflower, Lebanon, N.H.: University Press of New England, →ISBN, part III (The Household), pages 92–93:

[S]he took a mouthful of nocake to chew slowly, and she focused her energies on putting one foot in front of the other.

1998 August, Sara Donati [pseudonym; Rosina Lippi], chapter XXXVIII, in Into the Wilderness (A Delta Book), trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Dell, published October 2008, →ISBN, page 510:

He held out the bowl. "This here is some nocake. I figured we earned a quick bever." I quickly ate the ground Indian corn mixed with water.

1999, Michael Jensen, chapter 5, in Frontiers: A Novel, trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, published May 2000, →ISBN, page 70:

Especially for men away from camp, winter was a time of occasional hunger between kills; most carried only a small store of parched corn flour called nocake as traveling fare.

2003, William Cronon, “Seasons of Want and Plenty”, in Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England, revised edition, New York, N.Y.: Hill and Wang, →ISBN, part II (The Ecological Transformation of Colonial New England), page 47:

Indian corn parched and pounded into meal (powder), used as food by Native Americans, sometimes mixed with maple sugar.


quitchgrass

If your Hops are old and ill-husbanded, or worn out of heart, then about the beginning of Winter dig about them, and take away as much of the old barren Earth as you can, and apply good fat Mould or Compost to their Roots: If you cannot do it so soon, do not neglect it longer than January, or February, if the Weather be open, such Winter-dressings being a principal Renewal of decayed Hops; it will likewise kill the Weeds, Quitchgrass, &c.

1708, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry, Or, The Way of Managing and Improving Land, London, page 135:

1840, Robert Browning, Sordello, Book IV, in Sordello; Strafford; Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1863, p. 112,
The thoroughfares were overrun with weed
— Docks, quitchgrass, loathly mallows no man plants.

1888, Hawaiian Planters’ Monthly, Honolulu: Planters’ Labor and Supply Co., Volume VII, p. 486,
[…] the weed called honohono in Hawaiian, popularly known abroad as Quitchgrass—a weed which every planter in wet districts on our islands has been troubled with and found to be a costly enemy.

Other enemies, like the smaller weeds, he could overcome, but injustice, that quitch grass of life, was what stung him to fury.

1917, Hiram Alfred Cody, chapter 5, in Under Sealed Orders, Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, page 47:


Cavendish

en-proper noun

Cavendish (countable and uncountable, plural Cavendishes)

* (English village): Enclosure of a man named Cāfna + Old English edisc; recorded as Kauanadisc in 1086 (DB).
* (in Vermont): Likely named after William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire.
* (banana): Named after William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire.

named-after

A village and civil parish in West Suffolk district, Suffolk, England, previously in St Edmundsbury district (OS grid ref TL8046).

Peterborough County
Peterborough County#English

A community, ward and former township in Trent Lakes, Peterborough County, Ontario.

Clearwater County
Clearwater County#English

An unincorporated community in Clearwater County, Idaho, United States.

census-designated place
census-designated place

A town and census-designated place therein, in Windsor County, Vermont, United States.

Southern Grampians
Southern Grampians#English

A township in the Shire of Southern Grampians, Victoria, Australia.


pinole

en-noun

pinole (countable and uncountable, plural pinoles)

From Mexican Spanish pinole, from Classical Nahuatl pinolli (“flour, ground maize or chia”).

der

But all of them also called for obscure ingredients  whole cacao beans and a toasted corn flour called pinole, for example.

2009 February 11, Melissa Clark, “Third Time’s the Charm, Valentine”, in New York Times:

A coarse flour made from ground toasted maize kernels, often mixed with herbs, which may be eaten by itself or incorporated into drinks.


tillandsia

In the lobby of the Bardessono hotel, which recently opened in Napa Valley, four alcove panels are filled with epiphytic air plants (tillandsias) simply clipped onto metal rods.

2009 February 19, Stephen Orr, “A Breath of Fresh Greenery”, in New York Times:

Any of the genus Tillandsia of American epiphytes.


palmwood

As in his living room, a 1910s wooden pillar by Constantin Brancusi ($19 million to $25 million) will be placed not far from a 1910s armchair by Eileen Gray carved with dragons ($2.5 million to $3.8 million), two 1920s red-lacquered palmwood benches by Gustave Miklos ($2.5 million to $3.8 million), an ivory-inlaid 1910s cylindrical table by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann ($88,000 to $114,000) and a surprisingly staid pair of 18th-century walnut sofas ($38,000 to $63,000).

2009 February 20, Eve M. Kahn, “Flickery Images of Black Life Back Then”, in New York Times:


cornflake

But the kitchen regained its footing with a juicy pork chop, from a farm in Pennsylvania, with a cornflake crust; catfish (in a departure, from Louisiana) pan roasted, with black-bean-studded rice; and a chicken breast (from Delaware) pan roasted, with balsamic vinegar and a first-rate mozzarella.

2009 June 7, David Corcoran, “Ideas That Translate Into Full Local Flavors”, in New York Times:

A toasted flake of maize used as breakfast cereal.


wiregrass

en-noun

wiregrass (countable and uncountable, plural wiregrasses)


saltgrass

saltgrass (countable and uncountable, plural saltgrasses)

The perennial saltgrass nipa (Distichlis palmeri, Poaceae) is endemic to northern Gulf of California tidal marshes flooded with hypersaline seawater.

2012, S.L. Pearlsteina, R.S. Felgera, E.P. Glenna, J. Harringtond, K.A. Al-Ghaneme, S.G. Nelson, “Nipa (Distichlis palmeri): A perennial grain crop for saltwater irrigation”, in Journal of Arid Environments, →DOI, page 60:

Similar salt-tolerant species in the genus Distichlis.


cutty grass

cutty grass (usually uncountable, plural cutty grasses)

Any of many species of sedge or grass that have leaves with sharp, serrated edges, including

(informal, New Zealand) Any grass species of the genus Austroderia (toetoe, syn. Cortaderia).

Cyperus ustulatus (giant umbrella sedge)

Gahnia grandis (syn. Cladium psittacorum)


jagua palm

From Spanish jagua, the fruit of the jagua palm.

Attalea maripa, a large palm of tropical South America.


jawar

jawar (usually uncountable, plural jawars)

Sharankumar Limbale also recalls vividly […] how his grandmother collected remnants of undigested jowar grains from cow dung, washed and then dried them in the sun.

2023, Radhika Iyengar, Fire on the Ganges, Fourth Estate, page 93:

Sorghum bicolor
Sorghum bicolor#Translingual

(India) Sorghum, Indian millet (Sorghum bicolor).


breadcorn

From Middle English bred corn, brede corne; equivalent to bread + corn.

That which I drive at now is this; That Breadcorn, that brings so considerable increase by Tillage and Husbandry, would scarce be at all without it; for that which grows wildly of it self is worth nothing: but it being so wholesom and strengthning a food, that it should yield so plentiful increase, and that this should not be without humane Art and Industry, does plainly insinuate that there is a Divine Providence that intended to exercise the wit of Man in Husbandry and Tillage.

1662, Henry More, An Antidote Against Atheism, Book II, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 60


reedgrass

reedgrass (countable and uncountable, plural reedgrasses)

(US) Any of the grasses in the genus Calamagrostis.


agrostis

agrostis (usually uncountable, plural agrostises)

From New Latin agrōstis, via the genus name translingual Agrostis.

Above, see those delicate threads of the purple amoret, with its flood of anthers that are nearly yellow; the snowy pyramids of the meadow-sweet, the green tresses of the wild oats, the slender plumes of the agrostis, which we call wind-ear; roseate hopes, decking love's earliest dream and standing forth against the gray surroundings.

1891, Katharine Prescott Wormeley, The Lily of the Valley, translation of original by Honore de Balzac:

The ground is littered with fallen trunks that lie crossed and recrossed like storm-lodged wheat; and besides this close forest of pines, the rich moraine soil supports a luxuriant growth of ribbon-leaved grasses--bromus, triticum, calamagrostis, agrostis, etc., which rear their handsome spikes and panicles above your waist.

1894, John Muir, The Mountains of California:

Any grass of the genus Agrostis, bentgrass.


high fructose corn syrup

high fructose corn syrup (usually uncountable, plural high fructose corn syrups)

In 1982, high fructose corn syrup production amounted to 8.4 billion pounds with a value well in excess of one billion dollars.

Let's take a look at the sweetener used in most soft drinks, high fructose corn syrup.

Sucrose is just as bad as high fructose corn syrup," maintains Dr. Ludwig, an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard

Not because high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is any worse for you than sugar, but because it is, like many of the other unfamiliar ingredients in packaged

enzymatic processing
enzymatic processing

(chiefly US) A type of corn syrup that has undergone an enzymatic processing to convert some of its glucose into fructose in order to produce a desired sweetness.


glucose-fructose syrup

glucose-fructose syrup (countable and uncountable, plural glucose-fructose syrups)

High fructose corn syrup
high fructose corn syrup


maize syrup

maize syrup (countable and uncountable, plural maize syrups)

I love how sweet maize syrup is.


high-fructose maize syrup

high-fructose maize syrup (countable and uncountable, plural high-fructose maize syrups)


glucose/fructose

2009 "The Canadian Soft Drink Industry"
Glucose/fructose is a generic term for high fructose corn syrup or HFCS

High fructose corn syrup
high fructose corn syrup#English

(Canada, cooking) High fructose corn syrup.


corn sugar

corn sugar (countable and uncountable, plural corn sugars)

Last week, the industry group applied to the federal government for permission to use a new name for the ingredient on food labels: "corn sugar."

2010, “Corn sugar makers hope you'll but the new name”, in NPR:

The Corn Refiners Association wants to use "corn sugar" as an alternative name for the widely used liquid sweetener currently labeled as high fructose corn syrup on most sodas and packaged foods.

2011, Thomas Watkins, “'Corn sugar' is false advertising, FDA warns”, in Associated Press:

In April, eight leading sugar companies and two trade associations sued six corn processors and a lobbying group, alleging the corn industry is improperly using the term "corn sugar" in advertisements and elsewhere to describe high-fructose corn syrup, a widely used sweetener used in snack foods, condiments, fruit drinks and other products.

2011, Ashby Jones, “'Corn Sugar' Goes On Trial As Suit Debates High-Fructose Corn Syrup”, in The Wall Street Journal:

The Food and Drug Administration has cautioned the corn industry over its use of the term "corn sugar" to describe high fructose corn syrup before the proposed new name has received regulatory approval.

2011, “FDA warns industry over 'corn sugar' label”, in Star Tribune, archived from the original on 2011-09-29:

high fructose corn syrup
high fructose corn syrup

A deceptive term for high fructose corn syrup developed by corn refiners meant to imply sugar.


areng

Arenga pinnata
Arenga pinnata#Translingual

A palm tree (Arenga pinnata, syn. Saguerus saccharifer) which yields sago, wine, and fibres for ropes.

arenga

Arenga pinnata, a palm tree which yields sago, wine and fibres


nanner

Phonetically respelled aphetic form of banana.


corn roast

(US) An outdoor celebration in which corn is cooked on open fires.


corn whiskey

corn whiskey (countable and uncountable, plural corn whiskeys)

(US) A whiskey distilled from a mash made up of not less than 80% corn (maize).


hariali grass

Cynodon dactylon
Cynodon dactylon#Translingual


cutcherry

Borrowed from Tamil கச்சேரி (kaccēri, “office, administrative office”).

bor+

The cutcherry clerks and the police are with him everywhere; higher native officials are often on his side.

1914, George Robert Aberigh-Mackay, Twenty-One Days in India; and, the Teapot Series:

He went to the cutcherry and enrolled himself as a muktear (attorney) and soon the litigants and the magistrates found out how clever he was and he acquired a big practice.

1909, Cecil Henry Bompas, Folklore of the Santal Parganas:

--Since the first edition was published, I have been told by a late officer of the Ceylon Government, that many years ago, what remained of the Dutch records were removed from the record-room of the Colonial Office to the cutcherry of the government agent of the western province: where some of them may still be found.

1860, James Emerson Tennent, Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and:


poa

From scientific Latin Poa (genus name), from Ancient Greek πόα (póa, “fodder”).

We trod out across fragile alpine heath between poa tussocks and something that smelled of lemon thyme.

2004, Nicholas Shakespeare, In Tasmania, Harvill Press, p. 74

Any grass of the genus Poa, especially Poa annua.


cornshuck

(US, colloquial) The husk covering an ear of Indian corn.


deergrass

en-noun

deergrass (usually uncountable, plural deergrasses)

A species of grass native to the southwestern United States, Muhlenbergia rigens


mangcorn

From Middle English, from Old English menġan (“to mix”). See mingle, and corn.

Even in other parts of the country mangcorn, and rye, not pure wheat, were the chief products.

1910, Henrik Marczali, Hungary in the Eighteenth Century, page 55:

Mangcorn (mixed grains, especially wheat and rye) in 1916, 438,128 tons; in 1917, 395.988 tons; […]

1918, Commerce Reports of the United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, page 1183

Mangcorn is utilized partly as human food, and partly as fodder for cattle, especially for fattening swine, for which purpose it is considered peculiarly adapted.

1923, Norwegian Trade Review, numbers 6-8, page 39:

(obsolete) A mixture of wheat and rye, or other species of grain, sown together as one crop.


natchnee

Eleusine coracana
Eleusine coracana#Translingual

(archaic) An annual grass, Eleusine coracana, native to Africa. It is cultivated in India for grain.


agrostography

From Ancient Greek ἀγρώστη (agrṓstē, “grass”) + + -graphy.

der

In the present unsatisfactory condition of agrostography, the limits between various Triticoid and Festucoid genera, and especially the value of the numerous small groups split off from Festuca and its allies by Grisebach, Ruprecht, Parlatore, and others, cannot be determined, and we must await the promised revision of this vast and very difficult family by Colonel Munro, before we can expect to see the existing class reduced to order.

1866, Journal of Botany, British and Foreign, page 57:


jupati

A Brazilian palm, Raphia taedigera, whose long stalks are used in constructing buildings


cornsheller

Holonyms: (in the case of combine harvesting) combine, combine harvester

A machine or machine component that separates the kernels of corn (maize) from the cob.


gomuti

A black, fibrous substance resembling horsehair, obtained from the leafstalks of two palms, Metroxylon sagu, and Arenga pinnata (syn. Arenga saccharifera, of the Indian islands, and used for making cordage.


snake fruit

en-noun

snake fruit (usually uncountable, plural snake fruits)

(informal) The salak fruit, Salacca zalacca, which grows on a species of palm tree native to Indonesia.


phalaris

Any of several grasses of the genus Phalaris


broomcorn

broomcorn (countable and uncountable, plural broomcorns)

From broom + corn, from its use as bristles for brooms.

a variety of grass of the species Sorghum vulgare.


imphee

imphee (countable and uncountable, plural imphees)

(botany) African sugar cane (Sorghum bicolor, syn. Holcus saccharatus and Andropogon saccharatus).


palmyra

From Portuguese palmeira (“palm tree”), from palma (“palm, palm tree”) + -eria (“-tree: forming tree names”), from Old Galician-Portuguese -eira (“-plant: forming plant names from their fruit”), from Latin -āria (“-ary: forming feminine nouns including plant names”).

der

Borassus flabellifer
Borassus flabellifer#Translingual

A palm (Borassus flabellifer) with straight black upright trunk and palmate leaves, whose wood, fruit, and roots can be used for many purposes.


wholegrain

Best sources lean red meat, poultry, fish, dark green, leafy vegetables and wholegrain cereals.

2009 January 25, By Joanna Hall, “Teen tips for healthy eating”, in Herald Sun:

A cereal grain that contains cereal germ, endosperm, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm.

بُرّ

cereal grain that contains germ, endosperm, and bran


oyster plant

Acanthus mollis
Acanthus mollis#Translingual

Acanthus mollis (bear's breeches), native to the Mediterranean

Mertensia maritima (oysterleaf, sea lungwort, sea bluebell), native to Europe and North America with leaves said to taste like oysters

Scorzonera hispanica
Scorzonera hispanica#Translingual

Pseudopodospermum hispanicum (syn. Scorzonera hispanica, black salsify, black oyster plant), cultivated for its dark-skinned edible root

Tragopogon porrifolius
Tragopogon porrifolius#Translingual

Tragopogon porrifolius (common salsify, vegetable oyster, purple salsify, Jerusalem star), cultivated for its light-skinned edible root

Tradescantia spathacea (formerly Tradescantia discolor) (oyster herb, boatlily, Moses in a basket, cradle lily, Moses in his cradle, Moses on a raft, Moses in the bulrushes, men in a boat, Moses-in-cradle, salsify)


fan palm

Any of many plants that have similar palmate leaves. (See Derived terms below.)

A traveller's palm (Ravenala madagascariensis)


cornfloor

"Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor."

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Hosea 9:1:


peach palm

Bactris gasipaes
Bactris gasipaes#Translingual

A South American palm tree with fleshy, edible fruit (Bactris gasipaes).


pearl grass

en-noun

pearl grass (usually uncountable, plural pearl grasses)

snake tongue grass, Old World diamond-flower


corncutter

A machine for cutting up stalks of corn for cattle feed.


aftergrass

aftergrass (usually uncountable, plural aftergrasses)

For the ordinarie times of foddring your fat cattell […] if they féede abroad, and take the benefit of Foggs and after-grasse, then to fodder them Morning, Euening, and high-noone is fully sufficient.

1614, Gervase Markham, chapter 7, in The Second Booke of the English Husbandman, London: John Browne, page 99:

This recess, towards the close of September, when the after-grass of the meadows is still a fresh green, with the leaves of many of the trees faded, but perhaps none fallen, is truly enchanting.

1820, William Wordsworth, The River Duddon, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, pages 44–45:

The cool silk of aftergrass under her bare feet

1974, John McGahern, The Leavetaking, Boston: Little, Brown, Part 1, p. 68:

The grass that grows after the first crop has been mown.


xyris

(botany) Any member of the plant genus Xyris.