A type of grass (canary grass) whose seeds are used as birdseed, particularly for feeding canaries.
From Spanish 'alpiste,' which has unclear but possibly Romance origins. The word traveled into English through trade and contact with Spanish-speaking regions where this seed was commonly cultivated.
Alpiste is so useful that it has different names in different languages—Spanish speakers call it alpiste, French speakers say 'alpiste' too, and it shows how trade routes created shared vocabulary across Europe.
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