wheat [OE] An Anglo-Saxon word, wheat is related to *white, presumably on account of its pale colour. To separate the wheat from the chaff, meaning ‘to distinguish the valuable from the worthless’ is a biblical concept. In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, John the Baptist tells the people that a being mightier than him will soon come and gather in the wheat, or good people, but ruthlessly burn the chaff. In several other passages God’s anger is spoken of as driving away the wicked just as the wind blows away chaff. The first part of the name of the wheatear, a small songbird with a white rump, is from white rather than wheat. The second part seems odd, as birds do not have ears—it is actually from *arse, in reference to the bird’s rump.