Meanings
nounteff (countable and uncountable, plural teffs)
plural teffs · alternative tef
- countableuncountableA love grass, Eragrostis tef, with small seeds, grown as a cereal and for forage in Ethiopia and parts of Arabia.
- countableuncountableThe fine grain of this plant.
She begs the cook to help lift the bags of teff and check their weight.
2019, Maaza Mengiste, The Shadow King, Canongate Books (2020), page 23
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan African grass economically important as a cereal grass (yielding white flour of good quality) as well as for forage and hay
Similar
teff grassEragrostis tefEragrostic abyssinica
Broader
love grassbay grass
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Amharicጤፍ
- Englishteff
Borrowed from Amharic ጤፍ (ṭēff).
More words from Amharic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans tefgras
- tefgrasgrass
Chinese Mandarin 苔麸
- 苔麸 (tái fū)grain
Czech milička habešská
- milička habešskágrass
Dutch teff
- teffgrass
Finnish tefheinä, tefhirssi
- tefheinägrass
- tefhirssigrain
French mil éthiopien
- mil éthiopiengrain
German Teff, Zwerghirse
- Teffgrass
- Zwerghirsegrass
Hebrew טֵף
- טֵף (téf)grain
Norwegian Bokmål teff
- teffgrass
Polish miłka abisyńska, miłka abisyńska
- miłka abisyńskagrass
- miłka abisyńskagrain
Spanish teff
- teffgrain
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with teff
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
teff. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/teff
MLA
“teff.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/teff. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “teff,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/teff.
Source: teff on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.