1. peeled or pearl-barley ; singular only in phrase ἀλφίτου ἀκτή, barley- meal, Lat. polenta, (Homer): in plural ἄλφιτα, barley-groats, barley-meal , opposite to ἄλευρα, (Homer), attic

2. metaphorically one's daily bread , (Aristophanes Comicus); πατρῶια ἄλφ. one's patrimony , (Aristophanes Comicus) (ML)