buckwheat

UK: /ˈbʌk^hwiːt/ US: /ˈbʌkˌhwit, -ˌwit/ ,(buk′hwēt′, -wēt′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

buck•wheat /ˈbʌkˌhwit, -ˌwit/   n. [uncountable]

1. Plant Biology a plant grown for its edible triangular seeds.
2. Plant Biology, Food the seeds of this plant, made into flour or a cereal.
3. Food Also called ˈbuck•wheat ˌflour. flour made from buckwheat seeds.

adj. [usually before a noun]

4. made with buckwheat flour:
   buckwheat pancakes.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

buck•wheat  (buk′hwēt′, -wēt′), n. 

1. Plant Biology a plant, esp. Fagopyrum esculentum, cultivated for its triangular seeds, which are used as a feed for animals or made into a flour for human consumption, as in pancakes or cereal. Cf. buckwheat family.
2. Plant Biology the seeds of this plant.
3. Also, buck′wheat flour′. flour made from seeds of buckwheat.

adj. 

4. made with buckwheat flour:
   buckwheat pancakes.

• 1540–50; obsolete buck(Old English bōc beech) + wheat; compare Dutch boekweit, German Buchweizen; so called because its seeds resemble beechnuts

buck′wheat′like′, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

buckwheat / ˈbʌkˌwiːt/ noun

1. any of several polygonaceous plants of the genus Fagopyrum, esp F. esculentum, which has fragrant white flowers and is cultivated, esp in the US, for its seeds
2. the edible seeds of this plant, ground into flour or used as animal fodder
3. the flour obtained from these seeds

Etymology: 16th Century: from Middle Dutch boecweite, from boeke beech + weite wheat, from the resemblance of their seeds to beechnuts