also: エンばく · エンバク
noun
Refers to the cereal plant or its grains. Used in food, feed, and agricultural contexts.
朝食に燕麦のお粥を食べる。
I eat oatmeal for breakfast.
この畑では燕麦を栽培している。
They grow oats in this field.
The kanji 燕 (swallow, as in the bird) and 麦 (wheat/barley) combine to mean 'swallow wheat', possibly from the resemblance of the oat grains to a swallow's tail or from an old Chinese name. The reading えんばく is the on'yomi of the kanji.