小麦
こむぎ · komugi · JLPT N3 · noun
wheat
🌾 小麦 = small (ko) + grain (mugi): the small-grained cereal
Its partner word is 大麦 (oomugi), big grain, which means barley. Wheat is the small one of the pair: ko (small) + mugi (grain), with the m sound kept as komugi.
小 — three small strokes around a central vertical
小 is a pictograph originally showing three tiny dots or specks, suggesting small particles or grains. Over time the dots became stylized strokes flanking a central line. The core meaning 'small' has stayed remarkably stable from oracle bone script to today.