Rye vs. Triticale — What's the Difference?

Rye (Secale cereale) is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (Triticum) and barley (genus Hordeum).

Triticale (; × Triticosecale) is a hybrid of wheat (Triticum) and rye (Secale) first bred in laboratories during the late 19th century in Scotland and Germany. Commercially available triticale is almost always a second-generation hybrid, i.e., a cross between two kinds of primary (first-cross) triticales.

A cereal grass (Secale cereale) of cool climates, widely cultivated for its grain.

A hardy hybrid of wheat and rye having a high yield.

The grain of this plant, ground into flour or used in making whiskey and for livestock feed.

The grains of this hybrid.

Rye bread.

(uncountable) A grain crop, a hybrid of wheat and rye, that gives a high yield.

Whiskey made from the grains of this plant.

(countable) Any particular variety of triticale.

A Romani man.

A grain used extensively in Europe for making bread, beer, and (now generally) for animal fodder.

The grass Secale cereale from which the grain is obtained.

Rye bread.

Rye whiskey.

A drink of rye.

Caraway (from the mistaken assumption that the whole seeds, often used to season rye bread, are the rye itself)

Ryegrass, any of the species of Lolium.

A disease of hawks.

A grain yielded by a hardy cereal grass (Secale cereale), closely allied to wheat; also, the plant itself. Rye constitutes a large portion of the breadstuff used by man.

A disease in a hawk.

The seed of the cereal grass

Hardy annual cereal grass widely cultivated in northern Europe where its grain is the chief ingredient of black bread and in North America for forage and soil improvement

Whiskey distilled from rye or rye and malt