Literally 'the white grain' — named for its pale flour, an etymological twin of 'white' via PIE *kwey- (to shine).
A cereal plant (genus Triticum) that is the most important kind grown in temperate countries, the grain of which is ground to make flour.
From Old English 'hwæte' (wheat), from Proto-Germanic *hwaitijaz, derived from *hwītaz (white), from PIE *kʷeyd- (to shine, to be bright). The grain was named for its pale, bright colour when ripe — an ancient descriptive naming strategy common in agricultural vocabulary. The same PIE root gives Old English 'hwit' (white), Gothic 'hweits,' Old Norse 'hveiti' (wheat), and Old High German