Groats, grits, grout, Grote

Another word from E.T.A. Hoffmann’s The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr, found right next to saveloys : groats, or in German, Grützen. “Usually plural in form but singular or plural in construction,” says Merriam-Webster, which defines groats as “hulled grain broken into fragments larger than grits“ or “a grain (as of oats) exclusive of the hull.”

Its origin:

Middle English grotes, going back to Old English grotan, masculine weak plural, presumably a variant of the neuter noun grot “particle, whit” (also glossing Latin pollis “finely ground flour”), probably going back to Germanic *gruta-, noun derivative of *greutan- “to grind, crush.”

Groats is related to grits, which M-W defines as “coarsely ground hulled grain,” “especially : ground hominy with the germ removed.” Like groats, grits is plural in form, singular or plural in construction.

Its origin:

late Old English grutta “bran, coarse meal,” going back to Old English grytt “finely ground flour,” going back to Germanic grutjō- or grutja- (whence also Middle Dutch gorte “groats, grits” [with metathesis], Middle Low German grütte, Old High German gruzzi), noun derivative from zero-grade of *greutan- “to grind, crush.”

(Reader, do you take pride in your grits?)

And there’s a connection to grout, “thin mortar used for filling spaces (such as the joints in masonry).”

Its origin:

Middle English grut, grout “crushed grain for malt, infused malt, thick, dark ale, mud, slime,” going back to Old English grūt “coarse meal, dregs, spent malt after brewing,” going back to Germanic *grūta- (whence also Middle Dutch grute, gruut “herb mixture used in beer brewing,” Middle High German grūz “a grain, grain of sand”), lengthened zero grade noun derivative from *greutan- “to grind, crush.”

M-W adds a complication about this meaning of grout:

Sense 1, which first appears in the seventeenth century, is of uncertain relation to the earlier senses and perhaps of independent origin. Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, suggests a connection to Middle French (Limousin) grouter “to rough-cast,” Limousin Occitan greutā, but this isolated word, itself of unknown origin, is of unlikely relevance.

The entries for groats, grits, and grout all say “more at GRIT,” and the entry for grit suggests that the reader check out grits, groats, and grout. I think I’m on pretty solid ground in thinking of these words as close relations.

And by the way, if you’re ever having tile work done in your residence, it’s pronounced /ˈgrau̇t/. Like this. It’s never/ˈgrüt/.

I’m not sure what to do with Old Grote.

[The parenthetical question, if you don’t recognize it, is from My Cousin Vinny.]