Millet Meaning
/ˈmɪlɪt/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAny of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food, widely cultivated in the developing world.
nounCommon millet, in particular of species Panicum miliaceum.
Sentence Examples
The rich man bought a Millet.
Give me one millet dumpling, please.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The farmer grew ____, a small grain, in the dry field for livestock feed.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The farmer decided to plant a large field of ____ because it is a very hardy crop that can survive in relatively dry soil.
Word Origin & History
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).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…] 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.’"
— 1991, Douglas Coupland, “Adventure without risk is Disneyland”, in Generation X, New York: St. Martin's Press, →OCLC, page 155:
"The special duties of these millet organizations are to care for the educational and other moral wants of the people […]"
— 1880, Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, page 963:
"[…] in support for a common Serbian Orthodox Church, the one traditional institution permitted to exist under the Ottoman millet system which sought to rule subject peoples indirectly through their own religious hierarchies."
— 2007, Elizabeth Roberts, Realm of the Black Mountain, Hurst & Co, published 2007, page 14:
"Christians and Jews as People of the Book […] were organized into separate communities, or millets, defined by their common practice of the same religion, which was guaranteed as protected as long as it was primarily practised in private."
— 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 262:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The farmer grew ____, a small grain, in the dry field for livestock feed.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The farmer decided to plant a large field of ____ because it is a very hardy crop that can survive in relatively dry soil.