oat

noun

ˈōt 

often attributive

1

a

: any of several grasses (genus Avena)

especially : a widely cultivated cereal grass (A. sativa)

b

: a crop or plot of the oat

also : the seed of an oat

—usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction

2

archaic : a reed instrument made of an oat straw

see also:

feel one's oats

Illustration of oat

• oat 1a

Examples of oat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Plain oats are nutritious on their own, but adding seeds, nuts, and fruit can provide a wider range of vitamins and minerals while increasing fiber and protein. —Abby Norman, Verywell Health, 13 Apr. 2026

Plus, overnight oats take minutes to make the night before and are ready to eat in the morning. —Riley Wofford, Martha Stewart, 12 Apr. 2026

As your body digests oats, those carbs are converted into glucose and released into your bloodstream, raising blood sugar levels. —Jillian Kubala, Health, 10 Apr. 2026

The bakery will continue to sell a wide range of baked goods, such as sourdough bread, oat scones, brioche knots and sticky buns. —Tara Duggan, San Francisco Chronicle, 10 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ote "the grain of the oat plant, the plant itself," going back to Old English āte (weak feminine noun), of uncertain origin

Note: Old English āte has been compared with regional Dutch aate, oote "wild oats" (West and Zeeland Flanders), West Frisian and Groningen Dutch oat. (These contrast with Dutch haver, denoting cultivated oats, a reflex of the Common Germanic word for the grain.) Michiel de Vaan, in an addenda to the online etymologiebank.nl, believes that the Flanders words are semantic extensions of regional aat "food," of general Germanic origin (see eat entry 2), though this hypothesis would scarcely explain the Old English word. Jan de Vries (Nederlands Etymologisch Woordenboek, Brill, 1971) hypothesizes that the Low Country words may have been borrowed from English.

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing oat

• oat cell
• oat grass
• oat milk
• wild oat

Rhymes for oat

• bloat
• boat
• choate
• coat
• cote
• dote
• float
• gloat
• goat
• groat
• haute
• moat

Kids Definition

oat

noun

ˈōt 

: a grain that is widely grown for its long loose clusters of seeds which are used for human food and for livestock feed

oaten

ˈōt-ᵊn

adjective