# oat

> English word · Noun · IPA /əʊt/ · frequency rank #32,946

## Definitions
1. Widely cultivated cereal grass, typically Avena sativa.
2. Any of the numerous species, varieties, or cultivars of any of several similar grain plants in genus Avena.
3. The seeds of the oat, a grain, harvested as a food crop and for animal feed.
4. A simple musical pipe made of oat-straw.
5. The tiniest amount; a whit or jot.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English ote, from Old English āte, from Proto-West Germanic *aitā, from Proto-Germanic *aitǭ (“swelling; gland; nodule”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyd- (“to swell”). See English atter (“poison”).
Cognates
* Germanic: cognate with Scots ait (“oat”), West Frisian oat (“wild oat”), Dutch oot, aat (“wild oat”), Saterland Frisian Aate (“pea”), German Low German Aat (“oat”), obsolete Luxembourgish Otz (“oat”). Further related to Icelandic eitill (“nodule”), Norwegian Bokmål eitel (“knot, gland”), Norwegian Nynorsk eitel (“knot, gland”), Old High German eiz (“abscess”) (German Eiter (“pus”), Eiß (“ulcer”)), Dutch etter (“pus”), Saterland Frisian eitel (“fast, raging”), Old Norse eitill (“nodule”)
* Indo-European: Latin aemidus (“swollen, protuberant”), Old Church Slavonic ꙗдъ (jadŭ, “poison”), Ancient Greek οἰδέω (oidéō, “to swell”), Albanian ënjt (“to swell, inflame”), Old Armenian այտնում (aytnum, “to swell”), այտ (ayt, “cheek”), Sanskrit इन्दु (índu, “water drop”)

## Easily confused with
- **of** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-of)
- **on** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-on)
- **or** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-or)
- **OH** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-oh)
- **OK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-ok)
- **op** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-op)
- **OS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-os)
- **oz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-oz)
- **OT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-ot)
- **ou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-ou)
- **OG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-og)
- **oi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-oi)
- **ow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-ow)
- **OC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-oc)
- **oo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-oo)
- **om** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-om)
- **ox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-ox)
- **ob** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-ob)
- **od** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-od)
- **OJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oat-vs-oj)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/oat