Used of flour and bread: made using the entire grain of wheat, including the brown outer layer and the little seed inside, instead of only the white starchy middle. That outer layer is what makes wholemeal bread brown, chewier, heavier, and better for you — it holds the fibre. It works as a describing word ('wholemeal bread', 'wholemeal flour', 'a wholemeal roll') and people also use it alone as a noun in a shop ('two wholemeal, please'). This is a British word. Americans say 'whole wheat' — and since a lot of English learners in Taiwan learn American English but read British packaging, both are worth knowing. In Taiwan, this is what you see labelled 全麥 in the bread section. One honest note: 'brown bread' is not always wholemeal. Some brown bread is white flour with colouring added, which is why the packet has to say 'wholemeal' if it really is.

全麥的（麵粉、麵包）；台灣包裝上寫「全麥」。英式用法，美式說 whole wheat