What does brome mean?
Brome is the common name for any of various coarse grasses belonging to the genus Bromus, a large group found across temperate regions of the world. Some species, such as smooth brome and meadow brome, are deliberately cultivated as nutritious hay and pasture for livestock, prized for their drought tolerance and reliable yields. Others, notably downy brome — widely known as cheatgrass — are regarded among North America's most problematic invasive weeds, colonising disturbed ground and raising wildfire risk on rangelands. Because of this split character, the word carries both positive and negative connotations depending on context: praise in an agronomist's report, alarm in an ecologist's. Brome appears chiefly in agricultural, botanical, and land-management writing rather than casual conversation, and it commonly occurs in fixed pairings such as 'brome grass', 'smooth brome', and 'meadow brome'. Its specificity makes it useful wherever precision about forage or weed grasses matters.
nounA coarse grass of the genus Bromus, several species of which are grown for hay or pasture while others are troublesome weeds in cereal crops.
- Any coarse grass of the genus Bromus, especially those used as fodder or occurring as weeds.
"The meadow was thick with brome and wild oats by midsummer."
"The rancher sowed smooth brome across the hillside to improve summer pasture."
"Fields left fallow were quickly colonised by downy brome, to the wheat farmer's despair."
The plural is rare and appears mostly in botanical or agricultural contexts when referring collectively to multiple species of the genus.
"Several bromes were surveyed in the study of prairie grasslands."
One of brome's commonest species, cheatgrass, earned its name by 'cheating' farmers — sprouting early and then drying out before harvest.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of brome
The word brome entered English in the late seventeenth century, borrowed from French brome, which itself derives from Greek bromos, meaning a kind of oat or wild oat. The Greek term reflects the resemblance of these grasses to oats, and Linnaeus formalised the generic name Bromus when establishing modern botanical nomenclature. The compound bromegrass simply pairs the borrowed name with the native English word for the plant family it describes.
Related word forms
How brome is actually used
Primarily an agricultural, ecological, and botanical term rather than part of everyday vocabulary; speakers are most likely to encounter it in discussions of hay, pasture management, or invasive weed species.
Easily confused with brome
Broom is a shrub with yellow flowers (or a sweeping implement), whereas brome is a type of grass.