whete

Contents

Middle English

FWOTD – 24 January 2019

Alternative forms

• whæte, qwhete, wheyte, whiett, hwete, wheete, hwæte, hweate, wete, ȝwete

Etymology

From Old English hwǣte, hwēte, from Proto-Germanic *hwaitijaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʍɛːt(ə)/
• (dialectal) IPA^(key): /ˈwɛːt(ə)/, /ˈxwɛːt(ə)/

Noun

whete (uncountable)

1. Wheat (“plant of the genus Triticum”).
   • c. 1382–1395, John Wycliffe [et al.], Josiah Forshall and Frederic Madden, editors, The Holy Bible, […], volume III (in Middle English), Oxford: At the University Press, published 1850, OCLC 459166891, Hosea VII:14, page 678, column 1:

     And thei crieden not to me in her herte, but ȝelliden in her beddis. Thei chewiden code on wheete, and wyn, and thei ȝeden awei fro me.

     And they cried not to me from their hearts; but whined in their beds. They chewed cud on wheat, and wine, and they ran away from me.

2. The grain resulting from wheat; corn.
   • c. 1382–1395, John Wycliffe [et al.], Josiah Forshall and Frederic Madden, editors, The Holy Bible, […], volume I (in Middle English), Oxford: At the University Press, published 1850, OCLC 459166891, Genesis XLII:35, page 172, column 1:

     Thes thingis seid, whanne eche heelden out whete, thei founden in the mouth of the sackis boundun moneys.

     These things said, when each poured out their corn, they found in the mouth of the sacks bound [i.e., bundled-up] money.

3. The better or more valuable part of something.

Derived terms

• wheten

Descendants

• English: wheat
• Scots: wheat

References

• “whēte, n.” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 21 July 2018.