noun · prep_phrase · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˈəʊt/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈɵ̞ʊt/
Canada, General-American:/ˈoʊ̯t/
Canada, General-American:/ˈɔʊ̯t/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
/ˈoːt/monophthongization
Australian, New-Zealand:/ˈəʉ̯t/
Australian, New-Zealand:/ˈɐ̝ʉ̯t/
rhymes with -əʊt
homophone: ot-
CMU ARPABET:OW1 T
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Widely cultivated cereal grass, typically Avena sativa.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Examples
The oat stalks made good straw.
The main forms of oat are meal and bran.
World trade in oat is increasing.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Any of the numerous species, varieties, or cultivars of any of several similar grain plants in genus Avena.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
Examples
The wild red oat is thought to be the ancestor of modern food oats.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
The seeds of the oat, a grain, harvested as a food crop and for animal feed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A simple musical pipe made of oat-straw.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
The tiniest amount; a whit or jot.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
prep_phrase
Meaning 6
Alternative letter-case form of OAT.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
prep_phrase
Meaning 7
Initialism of of all time.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Internet, abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
seed of the annual grass Avena sativa (spoken of primarily in the plural as `oats')
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: grain, food grain, cereal
9
noun
Meaning 9
annual grass of Europe and North Africa; grains used as food and fodder (referred to primarily in the plural: `oats')
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
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”)
Across languages
Translations
135 source translations are retained for this English entry.