a cereal grass, Setaria italica, extensively cultivated in the East and in southern Europe for its small seed, or grain, used as food for humans and fowls, but in the U.S. grown chiefly for fodder.
any of various related or similar grasses cultivated as grain plants or forage plants.
the grain of any of these grasses.
Francis Davis, 1846–1912, U.S. painter, illustrator, and journalist.
Jean François 1814–75, French painter.
a cereal grass, Setaria italica, cultivated for grain and animal fodder
an East Indian annual grass, Panicum miliaceum, cultivated for grain and forage, having pale round shiny seeds
the seed of this plant
any of various similar or related grasses, such as pearl millet and Indian millet
1375–1425; late Middle English milet < Middle French, equivalent to mil (< Latin milium millet) + -et -et
Millet is a grain-like food that grows in grassy stalks and is a staple in both Asia and Africa. People on gluten-free diets aren't bothered by millet, which is technically a seed rather than a true grain. Pass the millet, please! Even in dry, hot conditions, millet grows easily and quickly, which has made it an important food in countries like India and Nigeria. Some East Asian countries brew beer using millet, and the Indian flatbread roti is commonly made with millet flour. Russia and Germany share a traditional millet-based food, a breakfast porridge.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Neetu, a 28-year-old farmer, said she used the product on her pearl millet crop and cut urea application by about one-third without affecting yields.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
It looks like charcoal, but the black briquettes are actually made from plant waste: millet and sesame stalks, palm fronds and cobs.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
Atomo’s ingredients aren’t particularly high tech: date seeds, ramón seeds, sunflower seed extract, fructose, pea protein, millet, lemon, guava, fenugreek seeds, caffeine and baking soda.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2024
Many staple foods with similar photosynthetic pathways to maize, such as sorghum, millet, and sugar cane, could potentially benefit from the approach used in this study, leading to improvements in photosynthetic efficiency and yield.
From Science Daily ● May 28, 2024
She looked searchingly at Granny, who was pounding millet with pestle and mortar and mixing it with sorghum and nuts for an African delicacy.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
"In fact, the usefulness of technology is very limited in this area," Millet says.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
"This is a fire that makes no sense. It has no direction," Guillaume Millet of the Gironde fire and rescue service told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Somewhere between Rue and Cassie on the desperation scale sits Elle Fanning’s Margo Millet, an eager community college student whose money troubles start when she falls for one of the oldest tricks in the book.
From Salon ● May 4, 2026
By then American painters were studying in Paris; they knew Courbet and Millet, and soon enough would know Pissarro and Monet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
Frank Millet hoped the closing ceremony would attract even more people than the fair’s Chicago Day.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
"So far, we have learnt that the people of Keeladi were involved in agriculture, trade and cattle-rearing. They kept deer, goats and wild pigs and ate lots of rice and millets," says Prof Kumaresan.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2025
Corn farmers across the Midwest are experimenting with drought-resistant millets, while growers in Sub-Saharan Africa are embracing varieties of sorghum and legumes that require less water than other grains.
From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2025
Blum is hopeful that consumer demand will encourage more investment in the sorghum and millets industry.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2024
Millet has come into fashion as a healthy alternative to wheat or rice after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization named 2023 as the International Year of millets.
From Reuters ● Sep. 9, 2023
China had developed intensive agriculture based on millets in the north and rice in the south, and with domestic pigs, chickens, and water buffalo.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
