Barley vs. Grain — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Fiza Rafique — Updated on May 18, 2024
Barley is a specific type of cereal grain used in food, beverages, and animal feed, while grain refers to the seeds of various cereal crops, including barley, wheat, and corn.
Difference Between Barley and Grain
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Barley is one of the oldest cultivated grains, primarily grown for its use in food products, beverages like beer and whiskey, and as animal feed. It has a distinctive chewy texture and a slightly nutty flavor, often used in soups, stews, and health foods. Grain, on the other hand, is a broad term encompassing the edible seeds of cereal crops such as wheat, corn, rice, oats, and barley. Grains form a staple part of the human diet worldwide, providing essential carbohydrates and nutrients.
While barley is a specific type of grain, the term grain itself refers to a category that includes many different cereal crops. Grains are fundamental to global agriculture and cuisine, serving as the primary source of energy for many populations.
Barley is often recognized for its role in brewing and animal feed, whereas grains, in general, are noted for their extensive use in baking, cooking, and processed foods. Both barley and grains are integral to food security and nutrition but differ in their specific uses and characteristics.
Barley can be hulled, pearl, or malted, each with distinct uses, while grains can be whole or refined, affecting their nutritional content and culinary applications. The cultivation, processing, and consumption of barley and other grains are vital to many cultures and economies.
Comparison Chart
Definition
A specific type of cereal crop
General term for edible cereal seeds
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Uses
Food, beverages, animal feed
Bread, pasta, cereals, various foods
Nutritional Value
High in fiber, vitamins, minerals
Carbohydrates, varying nutrients
Types
Hulled, pearl, malted
Wheat, corn, rice, oats, barley
Cultivation
Ancient crop, versatile growing conditions
Widely cultivated, diverse crops
Compare with Definitions
Barley
A cereal grain used for food, beverages, and animal feed.
Barley is often added to soups for its chewy texture and nutty flavor.
Grain
Edible seeds of cereal crops.
Bread is typically made from wheat grain.
Barley
A grain used in health foods and traditional dishes.
Barley flour is commonly used in health-conscious baking.
Grain
A staple food source providing essential carbohydrates.
Rice is a grain that serves as the primary food for many populations.
Barley
An ancient grain with high nutritional value.
Barley is a good source of dietary fiber and essential vitamins.
Grain
Seeds that can be processed into flour, meal, or whole foods.
Oatmeal is made from processed oat grains.
Barley
A key ingredient in brewing beer and distilling whiskey.
Malted barley is essential for making various types of beer.
Grain
The primary ingredient in many food products.
Breakfast cereals are made from various grains.
Barley
A versatile crop grown in diverse climates.
Farmers plant barley because it can thrive in many different environments.
Grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry seed - with or without an attached hull or fruit layer - harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant.
Barley
Barley (Hordeum vulgare), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago.
Grain
Wheat or any other cultivated cereal used as food.
Barley
A hardy cereal with coarse bristles extending from the ears, cultivated especially for use in brewing and stockfeed.
Grain
A single fruit or seed of a cereal
A few grains of corn
Barley
A grass in the genus Hordeum native to temperate regions, having flowers in terminal, often long-awned spikes and widely cultivated for its grain.
Grain
The smallest unit of weight in the troy and avoirdupois systems, equal to 1/5760 of a pound troy and 1/7000 of a pound avoirdupois (approximately 0.0648 gram).
Barley
The grain of H. vulgare or its varieties, used in malt production and as food for livestock and humans.
Grain
The longitudinal arrangement or pattern of fibres in wood, paper, etc.
He scored along the grain of the table with the knife
Barley
A cereal of the species Hordeum vulgare, or its grains, often used as food or to make beer and other malted drinks.
Grain
A person's character or natural tendency.
Barley
(Singapore) seed of Job's tears Coix lacryma-jobi
Grain
Kermes or cochineal, or dye made from either of these.
Barley
A valuable grain, of the family of grasses, genus Hordeum, used for food, and for making malt, from which are prepared beer, ale, and whisky.
Grain
Give a rough surface or texture to
Her fingers were grained with chalk dust
Barley
A grain of barley
Grain
Paint (especially furniture or interior surfaces) in imitation of the grain of wood or marble.
Barley
Cultivated since prehistoric times; grown for forage and grain
Grain
Remove hair from (a hide).
Grain
Feed (a horse) on grain.
Grain
A small, dry, one-seeded fruit of a cereal grass, having the fruit and the seed walls united
A single grain of wheat.
Gleaned the grains from the ground one at a time. Also called caryopsis.
Grain
The fruits of cereal grasses especially after having been harvested, considered as a group
The grain was stored in a silo.
Grain
A cereal grass
Wheat is a grain grown in Kansas.
Grain
Cereal grasses considered as a group
Grain is grown along the river.
Grain
A relatively small discrete particulate or crystalline mass
A grain of sand.
Grain
A small amount or the smallest amount possible
Hasn't a grain of sense.
Grain
(Aerospace) A mass of solid propellant.
Grain
Abbr. gr. A unit of weight in the US Customary System, an avoirdupois unit equal to 0.002285 ounce (0.065 gram).
Grain
The markings, pattern, or texture of the fibrous tissue in wood
Cherry wood has a fine grain.
Grain
The direction of such markings
Cut a board with the grain.
Grain
The side of a hide or piece of leather from which the hair or fur has been removed.
Grain
The pattern or markings on this side of leather.
Grain
The pattern produced, as in stone, by the arrangement of particulate constituents.
Grain
The relative size of the particles composing a substance or pattern
A coarse grain.
Grain
A painted, stamped, or printed design that imitates the pattern found in wood, leather, or stone.
Grain
The direction or texture of fibers in a woven fabric.
Grain
A state of fine crystallization.
Grain
Basic temperament or nature; disposition
It goes against my grain to ask for help.
Grain
An essential quality or characteristic
"Toughness as a virtue ... is, needless to say, fully embedded in the American grain" (Benjamin DeMott).
Grain
(Archaic) Color; tint.
Grain
To cause to form into grains; granulate.
Grain
To paint, stamp, or print with a design imitating the grain of wood, leather, or stone.
Grain
To give a granular or rough texture to.
Grain
To remove the hair or fur from (hides) in preparation for tanning.
Grain
To form grains
The corn began to grain.
Grain
(uncountable) The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.
We stored a thousand tons of grain for the winter.
Grain
(uncountable) Similar seeds from any food crop, e.g., buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa.
Grain
(countable) A single seed of grass food crops.
A grain of wheat
Grains of oat
Grain
The crops from which grain is harvested.
The fields were planted with grain.
Grain
(uncountable) A linear texture of a material or surface.
Cut along the grain of the wood.
He doesn't like to shave against the grain.
Grain
(countable) A single particle of a substance.
A grain of sand
A grain of salt
Grain
(countable) Any of various small units of mass originally notionally based on grain's weight, variously standardized at different places and times, including
Grain
The English grain of 5760 troy pound or 7000 pound avoirdupois, now exactly 64.79891 mg.
Grain
The metric, carat, or pearl grain of 4 carat used for measuring precious stones and pearls, now exactly 50 mg.
Grain
(historical) The French grain of 9216 livre, equivalent to 53.11 mg at metricization and equal to exactly 54.25 mg from 1812–1839 as part of the mesures usuelles.
Grain
Any of various small units of length originally notionally based on a grain's width, variously standardized at different places and times.
Grain
The carat grain of 4 carat as a measure of gold purity, creating a 96-point scale between 0% and 100% purity.
Grain
(materials) A region within a material having a single crystal structure or direction.
Grain
(rocketry) The solid piece of fuel in an individual solid-fuel rocket engine.
Grain
A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple.
Grain
The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.
Grain
(in the plural) The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff.
Grain
(botany) A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock.
Grain
Temper; natural disposition; inclination.
Grain
Visual texture in processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons.
Grain
A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant.
Grain
A tine, prong, or fork.
Grain
One of the branches of a valley or river.
Grain
An iron fish spear or harpoon, with a number of points half-barbed inwardly.
Grain
A blade of a sword, knife, etc.
Grain
(founding) A thin piece of metal, used in a mould to steady a core.
Grain
To feed grain to.
Grain
(transitive) To make granular; to form into grains.
Grain
(intransitive) To form grains, or to assume a granular form, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.
Grain
To texture a surface in imitation of the grain of a substance such as wood.
Grain
(tanning) To remove the hair or fat from a skin.
Grain
(tanning) To soften leather.
Grain
To yield fruit.
Grain
See Groan.
Grain
To paint in imitation of the grain of wood, marble, etc.
Grain
To form (powder, sugar, etc.) into grains.
Grain
To take the hair off (skins); to soften and raise the grain of (leather, etc.).
Grain
To yield fruit.
Grain
To form grains, or to assume a granular form, as the result of crystallization; to granulate.
Grain
A single small hard seed; a kernel, especially of those plants, like wheat, whose seeds are used for food.
Grain
The fruit of certain grasses which furnish the chief food of man, as corn, wheat, rye, oats, etc., or the plants themselves; - used collectively.
Storehouses crammed with grain.
Grain
Any small, hard particle, as of sand, sugar, salt, etc.; hence, any minute portion or particle; as, a grain of gunpowder, of pollen, of starch, of sense, of wit, etc.
I . . . with a grain of manhood well resolved.
Grain
The unit of the English system of weights; - so called because considered equal to the average of grains taken from the middle of the ears of wheat. 7,000 grains constitute the pound avoirdupois, and 5,760 grains the pound troy. A grain is equal to .0648 gram. See Gram.
Grain
A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple.
All in a robe of darkest grain.
Doing as the dyers do, who, having first dipped their silks in colors of less value, then give' them the last tincture of crimson in grain.
Grain
The composite particles of any substance; that arrangement of the particles of any body which determines its comparative roughness or hardness; texture; as, marble, sugar, sandstone, etc., of fine grain.
Hard box, and linden of a softer grain.
Grain
The direction, arrangement, or appearance of the fibers in wood, or of the strata in stone, slate, etc.
Knots, by the conflux of meeting sap,Infect the sound pine and divert his grainTortive and errant from his course of growth.
Grain
The fiber which forms the substance of wood or of any fibrous material.
Grain
The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.
Grain
The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum. Also called draff.
Grain
Temper; natural disposition; inclination.
Brothers . . . not united in grain.
Grain
A sort of spice, the grain of paradise.
He cheweth grain and licorice,To smellen sweet.
The red roses flush up in her cheeks . . . Likce crimson dyed in grain.
Grain
A branch of a tree; a stalk or stem of a plant.
Grain
A tine, prong, or fork.
Grain
A blade of a sword, knife, etc.
Grain
A thin piece of metal, used in a mold to steady a core.
Grain
A small hard particle;
A grain of sand
Grain
Foodstuff prepared from the starchy grains of cereal grasses
Grain
Used for pearls or diamonds: 50 mg or 1/4 carat
Grain
1/60 dram; equals an avoirdupois grain or 64.799 milligrams
Grain
1/7000 pound; equals a troy grain or 64.799 milligrams
Grain
Dry seedlike fruit produced by the cereal grasses: e.g. wheat, barley, Indian corn
Grain
The direction or texture of fibers found in wood or leather or stone or in a woven fabric;
Saw the board across the grain
Grain
Thoroughly work in;
His hands were grained with dirt
Grain
Paint (a surface) to make it look like stone or wood
Grain
Form into grains
Grain
Become granular
Grain
A broad category including wheat, corn, rice, and barley.
Whole grains are recommended for a balanced diet.
Common Curiosities
What is barley?
Barley is a specific type of cereal grain used for food, beverages, and animal feed.
Is barley nutritious?
Yes, barley is high in dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
What is the main difference between barley and grain?
Barley is a specific type of grain, while grain refers to a broad category of cereal crops.
What are grains?
Grains are the edible seeds of various cereal crops, including wheat, corn, rice, and barley.
How is barley used?
Barley is used in soups, stews, health foods, brewing beer, and animal feed.
What are common types of grains?
Common grains include wheat, corn, rice, oats, and barley.
Can barley be used in baking?
Yes, barley flour can be used in baking for a nutritious alternative.
What is malted barley?
Malted barley is barley that has been germinated and dried, commonly used in brewing.
Is barley used in beverages?
Yes, barley is a key ingredient in brewing beer and distilling whiskey.
What are whole grains?
Whole grains contain all parts of the grain kernel and are more nutritious than refined grains.
How are grains processed?
Grains can be milled into flour, rolled, or used whole in various food products.
Are grains a staple food?
Yes, grains are a staple food for many cultures, providing essential nutrients and energy.
Can grains be refined?
Yes, grains can be refined to remove the bran and germ, often reducing their nutritional value.
What are the main uses of grains?
Grains are used to make bread, pasta, cereals, and various other food products.
Where is barley commonly grown?
Barley is grown in diverse climates around the world, including North America, Europe, and Asia.
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Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
