 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Grist" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Grist isgrain that has been separated from itschaff in preparation forgrinding. It can also refer to grain that has been coarsely ground at agristmill. The term derives from the Old English verbgrindan, meaning "to grind."
Grist can be ground intomeal orflour, depending on the fineness of the grind.Maize prepared as grist is calledgrits when coarsely ground, andcornmeal when ground more finely. Other grains such aswheat,oats,barley, andbuckwheat are similarly ground and sifted into flour orfarina.
In addition to its use as a food product, grist is a key ingredient inbrewing anddistillation, where it is mashed to extract fermentable sugars.
Theproverb "all is grist to the mill" means that everything can be made useful or turned to advantage. Variations include "all's grist that comes to his mill," implying that a person can profit from any opportunity that arises.
Historically, amiller would grind any grain brought to his mill and take a portion of the resulting flour as payment. Consequently, all grain delivered to the mill represented potential income regardless of quality. The phrase’s earliest recorded usage dates to the 16th century, though the saying itself is likely older.
The termgristmill was commonly used in both theUnited States andUnited Kingdom to describe small mills open to public use.
The surnameGrist is of English origin, derived from the occupational trade of grinding grain at a mill. It has historical roots in rural regions such as Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Middlesex, where milling played a significant role in local economies. Families bearing this name were often involved in milling or related agricultural occupations.
Genealogical research has traced the history of the Grist family back several centuries, with evidence linking branches of the family to the milling trade and rural communities in England. DNA studies and family history projects continue to explore the lineage and geographic distribution of the Grist name.[1]
