Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1889-1930
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CUMMINS, CUMMINGS, COMIN'S, n.pl. The rootlets of malt (Bnff.2 1941; Uls. 1880 W. H. Patterson Gl. Ant. and Dwn., cummings); "the dried radicles of malted barley; comes. Also maut cummins" (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., comin's, obs.); "draff, used as cattle-feed" (Abd.27 1946). [′kʌmənz]Sc. 1909 Colville 175:
I always heard the maltman calling these [sprouts of barley] "cummins." They represented the germination of the malt as dried on the floor of the malt-barn.Bnff. 1930 (per Abd.5):
Cummins . . . was given me by the local miller who had been employed for some time in a distillery on Fiddich side. When the malt was dried the root growth (cummins) used to come through the kiln-plates (which are perforated) and the malt was afterwards screened. The cummins were bagged and eagerly sought by gardeners as a fertiliser.Hdg. 1889 J. Lumsden Lays Linton 157:
A wicked little, high-speed mill for grinding cummings.
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"Cummins n. pl.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 17 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/cummins>
