pearl millet

American  

noun

1. a tall grass, Pennisetum americanum (orP. glaucum ), cultivated in Africa, Asia, and the southern U.S. for its edible seeds and as a forage plant.

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pearl millet British  

noun

1. a tall grass, Pennisetum glaucum, cultivated in Africa, E Asia, and the southern US as animal fodder and for its pearly white seeds, which are used as grain

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Etymology

Origin of pearl millet

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

People grow the cereal grain sorghum and pearl millet, crops that are drought resistant and offer a chance at harvests, but even they failed to withstand the conditions this year.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 30, 2024

Farmers in Ghana coped with severe droughts from 1450 to 1650 by planting indigenous African grains, like drought-tolerant pearl millet.

From Salon • Feb. 26, 2024

A Neolithic people, the proto-Bantu were farmers who subsisted by cultivating pearl millet and yams and extracting oil from the abundant palm and bush candle trees of the region’s luxuriant rainforests.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

His team’s research ultimately found that urine, either with animal manure or alone, increased yields of pearl millet, the staple crop, by about 30 percent.

From New York Times • Jun. 17, 2022

They include, notably, sorghum and pearl millet, which became the staple cereals of much of sub-Saharan Africa.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond