barley

Meaning

1. A cereal of the species Hordeum vulgare, or its grains, often used as food or to make beer and other malted drinks.
2. seed of Job's tears (Coix lacryma-jobi)

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈbɑɹli/

Etymology

From Middle English barly, barli, from Old English bærlīċ (“barley-like”, adjective) (later referring to barley itself and grain crops of similar appearance), from bere (“barley”) (compare Scots bere (“six-rowed barley”)), from Proto-Germanic *baraz (compare Old Norse barr), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰers- (“spike, prickle”). Equivalent to bere + -ly. See English brew.