grits (n.)

plural of grit "coarsely ground grain," Old English grytt (plural grytta) "coarse meal, groats, grits," from Proto-Germanic *grutja-, from the same root as grit (n.), the two words having influenced one another in sound development.

In American English, corn-based grits and hominy (q.v.) were used interchangeably in Colonial times. Later, hominy meant whole kernels that had been skinned but not ground, but in the U.S. South, hominy meant skinned kernels that could be ground coarsely to make grits. In New Orleans, whole kernels are big hominy and ground kernels little hominy.

Entries linking to grits

grit (n.)

Old English greot "sand, dust, earth, gravel," from Proto-Germanic *greutan "tiny particles of crushed rock" (source also of Old Saxon griot, Old Frisian gret, Old Norse grjot "rock, stone," German Grieß "grit, sand"), from PIE *ghreu- "rub, grind" (source also of Lithuanian grūdas "corn, kernel," Old Church Slavonic gruda "clod"). Sense of "pluck, spirit, firmness of mind" first recorded American English, 1808.

If he hadn't a had the clear grit in him, and showed teeth and claws, they'd a nullified him so, you wouldn't have see'd a grease spot of him no more. [Thomas Chandler Haliburton, "Sam Slick in England," 1843]

hominy (n.)

1629, first recorded by Capt. John Smith, probably from Powhatan (Algonquian) uskatahomen, or a similar word, "parched corn," probably literally "that which is ground or beaten." See grits.

Trends of grits

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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surface

1610s, "the bounding or limiting parts of a body," from French surface "an outermost boundary, outside part" (16c.), from Old French sur- "above" (see sur-) + face (see face (n.)). The French words is patterned on Latin superficies "surface, upper side, top" (see superficial). Th

moxie

"courage," 1930, from Moxie, brand name of a bitter, non-alcoholic drink, 1885, perhaps as far back as 1876 as the name of a patent medicine advertised to "build up your nerve." Despite legendary origin stories put out by the company that made it, it is perhaps ultimately from a

coat

early 14c., "principal outer garment, tunic, kirtle," typically made of cloth and usually with sleeves, worn alone or under a mantle, from Old French cote "coat, robe, tunic, overgarment," from Frankish *kotta "coarse cloth" or some other Germanic source (compare Old Saxon kot "w

sand

"water-worn detritus finer than gravel; fine particles of rocks (largely crystalline rocks, especially quartz); the material of the beach, desert, or sea-bed;" Old English sand, from Proto-Germanic *sandam (source also of Old Norse sandr, Old Frisian sond, Middle Dutch sant, Dutc

clench

"to grasp firmly," c. 1300, from Old English (be)clencan "to hold fast, make cling," causative of clingan (see cling, and compare clinch); compare stench/stink. Meaning "to set firmly together" (of fists, teeth, etc.) is from 1747 (clinch in this sense is attested from 1630s). Fi

big

c. 1300, at first found chiefly in writings from northern England and north Midlands, with a sense of "powerful, strong;" a word of obscure origin. It is possibly from a Scandinavian source (compare Norwegian dialectal bugge "great man"). Old English used micel (see much) in many

little

Old English lytel "not large, not much, small in size or number; short in distance or time; unimportant," from Proto-Germanic *lutilla- (source also of Old Saxon luttil, Dutch luttel, Old High German luzzil, German lützel "little"), perhaps originally a diminutive of the root of

glove

Old English glof "glove, covering for the hand having separate sheaths for the fingers," also "palm of the hand," from Proto-Germanic *galofo "covering for the hand" (source also of Old Norse glofi), probably from *ga- collective prefix + *lofi "hand" (source also of Old Norse lo

eve

c. 1200, eve "evening," especially the time between sunset and darkness, from Old English æfen, with loss of terminal -n (which, though forming part of the stem, perhaps was mistaken for an inflection), from Proto-Germanic *æbando- (source also of Old Saxon aband, Old Frisian ewn

shambles

"meat or fish market," early 15c., from schamil "table, stall for vending" (c. 1300), from Old English scamol, scomul "stool, footstool" (also figurative); "bench or stall in a market on which goods are exposed for sale, table for vending." Compare Old Saxon skamel "stool," Middl

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updated on September 28, 2017

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