ETYM Buck a beech tree + wheat; akin to Dutch boekweit, German buchweizen.
1. Grain ground into flour.
2. Or member of genus Fagopyrum; annual Asian plant with clusters of small pinkish white flowers and small edible triangular seeds which are used whole or ground into flour; SYN. Polygonum fagopyrum, Fagopyrum esculentum.
Any of several plants of the genus Fagopyrum, family Polygonaceae. The name usually refers to F. esculentum, which grows to about 1 m/3 ft and can grow on poor soil in a short summer. The highly nutritious black, triangular seeds (groats) are consumed by both animals and humans. They can be eaten either cooked whole or or as a cracked meal (kasha) or ground into flour, often made into pancakes.