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
The mayhem started an hour before sunset on Tuesday as residents of the farming community were heading home from their fields, where they grow yams, maize and millet.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
In the experiment, 100 farmers each grew two millet plots each -- one treated with nitrogen fertilizer and one left untreated for comparison.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 24, 2026
Still another development in eastern and northern Australia was the harvesting of seeds of a wild millet, belonging to the same genus as the broomcorn millet that was a staple of early Chinese agriculture.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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
“You can feel the movement of the characters around you,” Millet says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
Ms. Millet is efficient and empathetic in her prose, but her message—that we must reckon with environmental catastrophe and our own moral complacency—blows through this novel like its own bracing storm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
He hoped that when the Olympic at last reached the site of the accident, he would find Millet and hear him tell some outrageous story about the voyage.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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
Drought-resistant millets, sorghum and legumes, staples until the early 20th century when they were overtaken by exotic white corn, have been taking up more land space in recent years.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 27, 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
This was also the case among the millets.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
Yayoi farmers may have practiced double-cropping, with paddies irrigated for rice production in the summer, then the same fields drained for dry-land cultivation of millets, barley, and wheat in the winter.
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.
