pearl millet

American  

noun

1. a tall grass, Pennisetum americanum (orP. glaucum ), cultivated in Africa, Asia, and the southern U.S. for its edible seeds and as a forage plant.

---

pearl millet British  

noun

1. a tall grass, Pennisetum glaucum, cultivated in Africa, E Asia, and the southern US as animal fodder and for its pearly white seeds, which are used as grain

---

Etymology

Origin of pearl millet

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

People grow the cereal grain sorghum and pearl millet, crops that are drought resistant and offer a chance at harvests, but even they failed to withstand the conditions this year.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 30, 2024

A Neolithic people, the proto-Bantu were farmers who subsisted by cultivating pearl millet and yams and extracting oil from the abundant palm and bush candle trees of the region’s luxuriant rainforests.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

His team’s research ultimately found that urine, either with animal manure or alone, increased yields of pearl millet, the staple crop, by about 30 percent.

From New York Times • Jun. 17, 2022

By day, Sikka worked hard harvesting wheat and pearl millet and feeding animals.

From Washington Post • Jan. 22, 2022

Less well known are Africa’s combination of sorghum, African rice, and pearl millet with cowpeas and groundnuts, and the Andes’ combination of the noncereal grain quinoa with several bean species.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond