sorghum
[sawr-guh m]
- a cereal grass, Sorghum bicolor (or S. vulgare), having broad, cornlike leaves and a tall, pithy stem bearing the grain in a dense terminal cluster.
- the syrup made from sorgo.
Show More
Origin of sorghum
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sorghum
Contemporary Examples
Whiskey and vodka are also loosely classified as such, but the base of baijiu is sorghum.
Sorghum requires less water than corn but yields about the same amount of ethanol per bushel.
Democrats and Republicans Support Harmful Ethanol Subsidies for the Sake of VotesRobert Bryce
September 5, 2012
The agency is expected to approve the use of sorghum for ethanol production.
Democrats and Republicans Support Harmful Ethanol Subsidies for the Sake of VotesRobert Bryce
September 5, 2012
Sorghum syrup is actually a juice extract collected from a tall grass called sweet sorghum.
Sorghum juice can be extracted for fermentation and distillation without damaging the grain at the top of the stalk.
Historical Examples
“Hit's the fourth time since sorghum time,” the boy went on relentlessly.
In Happy ValleyJohn Fox
That was where he raised most of his corn and shoats, and lots of sorghum cane.
Slave Narratives, OklahomaVarious
The family had been living on corncakes and sorghum molasses for three days.
My AntoniaWilla Cather
Between the rows of fruit trees are vegetables or corn or sorghum.
The Critic in the OrientGeorge Hamlin Fitch
"I think we will locate them in the sorghum patch," said the Major.
Shawn of SkarrowJames Tandy Ellis
sorghum
- any grass of the Old World genus Sorghum, having solid stems, large flower heads, and glossy seeds: cultivated for grain, hay, and as a source of syrupSee also durra
Show More
Word Origin
C16: from New Latin, from Italian sorgo, probably from Vulgar Latin Syricum grānum (unattested) Syrian grain
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for sorghum
n.
"Indian millet," 1590s, from Modern Latin Sorghum, the genus name, from Italian sorgo "a tall cereal grass," probably from Medieval Latin surgum, suricum (12c.), perhaps a variant of Latin syricum "Syrian," as in Syricum (gramen) "(grass) of Syria," from Syria, a possible source of the plant or its grain in ancient times.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper