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millet

/ˈmɪlɪt/ noun

In Latin: milium Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about millet at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. Any of various small-grained annual cereal and forage grasses of the genera Panicum, Echinochloa, Setaria, Sorghum, and Eleusine.
  2. French painter of rural scenes (1814-1875).
  3. Small seed of any of various annual cereal grasses especially Setaria italica.

Origin

From late Middle English, borrowed from Middle French millet; from Latin milium, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to grind, crush”), see also Ancient Greek μελίνη (melínē, “millet”) and Lithuanian málnos (“millet”). Not related to مِلَّة (milla).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)