Word Study
groats
CIDE DICTIONARY
groats, n. pl. [OE. grot, AS. grātan; akin to Icel. grautr porridge, and to E. gritt, grout. See Grout.].
Dried grain, as oats or wheat, hulled and broken or crushed; in high milling, cracked fragments of wheat larger than grits. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
groats, n.pl. hulled or crushed grain, esp. oats.
Etymology
OE grotan (pl.): cf. grot fragment, greot GRIT, grytt bran
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