Millet
/ˈmɪlɪt/ name, noun
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food, widely cultivated in the developing world. countable, uncountable
"[…] Tobias said, ‘Don't bother. Elena's allergic to all known food groups. The only thing she eats here is seasoned millet and rainwater they bring down from Vermont in a zinc can.’"
- 2 A semi-autonomous confessional community under the Ottoman Empire, especially a non-Muslim one. historical
"The special duties of these millet organizations are to care for the educational and other moral wants of the people […]"
- 3 small seed of any of various annual cereal grasses especially Setaria italica wordnet
- 4 Common millet, in particular of species Panicum miliaceum. countable, specifically, uncountable
- 5 any of various small-grained annual cereal and forage grasses of the genera Panicum, Echinochloa, Setaria, Sorghum, and Eleusine wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
- 2 A town in Alberta, Canada.
Example
More examples"Give me one millet dumpling, please."
Etymology
Etymology 1
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).
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish ملت (millet), from Arabic مِلَّة (milla).