common barley

2.7

A grain grown for food, animal feed, and to make beer

noun

: cebada común

Common barley is a key ingredient in many breakfast cereals and snack bars.

Examples

Malted common barley is essential in the production of several popular beers.
Many farmers grow common barley as a feed crop for their livestock.
Farmers grow common barley for animal feed.
Do you know how common barley is processed?
Common barley is a key ingredient in many breakfast cereals and snack bars.
Malted common barley is essential in the production of several popular beers.
Many farmers grow common barley as a feed crop for their livestock.

Synonyms

barley

vscommon barley

30 1.6

A grain people grow for food, animal feed and making beer

is the specific widely cultivated species focused on grain for breakfast and malt

Hordeum vulgare

vscommon barley

Specialized

7.7

A cereal plant grown for its grain that people use for food, animal feed and making malt

is the everyday common name rather than the scientific Latin term

Surface Forms

common barley singular

common barleys plural

Morphology

common + barley

The phrase 'common barley' is compositionally built from 'common' (typical, frequently occurring) + 'barley' (a cereal grain), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a widely occurring or typical type/species of barley. This adjective+noun pattern is a standard, transparent compositional construction across languages and does not require idiomatic knowledge.

Etymology

Common barley is named for being the ordinary, widely grown type of barley: common means 'widespread' or 'ordinary' and barley is the grain crop. That's why common barley refers to the barley people grow for 'breakfast foods', 'animal feed', and 'beer'.