hummel

Meaning

Noun

1. A stag that has failed to grow antlers; a cow that has not developed horns.
2. Especially in hummel corn: grain that lacks awns (beards or bristles), or has had its awns removed (barley, oats, etc.).

Verb

1. Of an animal: to remove the horns; to poll.
2. To separate (barley, oats, etc.) from the awns.

Synonyms

hornless

humble

Hyphenated as

hum‧mel

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈhʌm(ə)l/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: hamelen

Inherited from Old English: hamelian

Cognate with Dutch: hamel

Cognate with English: hamble

Cognate with Low German: hommel

Cognate with Bavarian: humlet

Cognate with German: hammeln

Cognate with Icelandic: hamla

In summary

Probably from Middle English hamelen (“to maim, mutilate; to cut short”), from Old English hamelian (“to hamstring, mutilate”), from Proto-Germanic *hamalōną, *hamlōną (“to mutilate”), from Proto-Indo-European *kem- (“hornless; mutilated”). Cognate with Dutch hamel (“wether”), English hamble, Low German hommel, hummel (“an animal lacking horns”), humlich, dialectal hommlich (“lacking horns”), Bavarian humlet (“lacking horns”), German hammeln, hämmeln (“to geld”), Icelandic hamla (“to maim, mutilate”).
OxfordDictionaries.com suggests that the “ear of grain with its awns removed” sense preceded the “animal without antlers or horns” sense.