Etymology

wheat

W4H4E1A1T1

Today it means: Any of the several cereal grains, of the genus Triticum, that yields flour as used in bakery. Full definition →

Middle English whete ← Old English hwǣte ← Proto-West Germanic *hwaitī
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wheat · noun, adjective1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hwaitijaz
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hwaitī
  3. Old English · inherited fromhwǣte
  4. Middle English · inherited fromwhete
  5. English todaywheat

From Middle English whete, from Old English hwǣte, from Proto-West Germanic *hwaitī, from Proto-Germanic *hwaitijaz (compare West Frisian weet, Dutch weit, Low German Weten, German Weizen, Danish hvede, Swedish vete, Norwegian Bokmål hvete, Norwegian Nynorsk kveite, Faroese and Icelandic hveiti), from *hwītaz (“white”). More at white.

Wheat · proper noun2

  1. Old English · derived fromhwettan“to encourage, embolden, sharpen”
  2. English todayWheat

English surname, probably from the noun wheat. Another sense meaning "bold, active, brave" is derived from Old English hwettan (“to encourage, embolden, sharpen”).

Words from the same roots

Old Englishhwǣte all →

WheatleyWhatleyWheatcroft

Old Englishhwettan all →

whet

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.