# grist
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English grist, gryst, from Old English grist, gyrst (“the action of grinding, corn for grinding, gnashing”), of obscure origin: possibly from a pre-Germanic substrate language, or from a derivative of Proto-Germanic *gredaną (“to crunch”), (Can this etymology be sourced?) possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to rub, grind”). Cognate with Old Saxon gristgrimmo (“gnashing of the teeth”), German Griesgram (“a grumbler, a grouch, peevishness, misery”), Old English gristel (“gristle”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡɹɪst/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪst

### Noun

grist (countable and uncountable, plural grists)
* Grain that is to be ground in a mill.
** 1720, Thomas Hope [pseudonym; Jonathan Swift], “An Essay on English Bubbles”, in The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift‎, volume 8:That it will, however, cause the subscribers to wish, in their minds, for many oaths to fly about, which is a heinous crime, and to lay stratagems to try the patience of men of all sorts; to put them upon the swearing strain, in order to bring grist to their own mill, which is a crime still more enormous; and that therefore, for fear of these evil consequences, the passing of such an act is not consistent with the really extraordinary and tender conscience of a true modern politician.
** 2013 July–August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.
* (obsolete) A group of bees.
* (colloquial, obsolete) Supply; provision.
** 1719, Jonathan Swift, “The Progress of Beauty”, in The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D.‎, volume 1:Matter, as wise logicians say, / Cannot without a form subsist; / And form, say I, as well as they, / Must fail if matter brings no grist.
* (ropemaking) A given size of rope, common grist being a rope three inches in circumference, with twenty yarns in each of the three strands.
* (figurative) Ellipsis of grist for the mill.
** 1985 August 24, Robert Butler, “Sex More Punished Than Murder”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 7, page 5:The judge needed a case with the potential for great emotional impact to gain media coverage for his political career. He was running for judgeship on the Nevada Supreme Court. Nicky and I were in the wrong place at the wrong time. We were available, vulnerable, and expendable for political grist.
** 2023 November 11, Danny Leigh, “Living on the edge”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 10:True stories are embellished, the casts of fictional dramas stuffed with unlikely non-actors. All is grist to what [Werner] Herzog calls “ecstatic truth”.

#### Derived terms

* gristbite
* grist for the mill (chiefly US)
* grist mill / gristmill
* grist to the mill (chiefly UK)
* gristy

#### Related terms

* gristle

#### Translations
### Verb

grist (third-person singular simple present grists, present participle gristing, simple past and past participle gristed)
* (transitive) To grind in a mill.
** 1861, Sessional Papers of the Parliament of the Province of Canada:[…] and another mill is erecting on the same stream near Sparrow Lake, to which a run of stones for gristing will be added.
** 1892, Annual report of the Department of Indian Affairs, page 70:[…] it cleaned out two hundred and ten bushels called screenings; the balance was sold, gristed and used for seed.

### References

* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “gristle”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “grist”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

### Anagrams

* Grits, girts, grits, strig, trigs

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Verb

grist
* inflection of grissen:
** second/third-person singular present indicative
** (archaic) plural imperative

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Alternative forms

* grisa, griset

### Verb

grist
* past participle of grise

## Old English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡriːst/

### Verb

grīst
* second/third-person singular present indicative of grīsan

## Slovene
### Verb

grȋst
* supine of gristi