O.E.
grytt (pl.
grytta) "coarse meal, groats, grits," from P.Gmc.
*grutja-, from the same root as
grit, the two words having influenced one another in sound development. In Amer.Eng., corn-based
grits and
hominy (q.v.) were used interchangeably in Colonial times. Later,
hominy meant whole kernels that had been skinned but not ground, but in the U.S. South,
hominy meant skinned kernels that could be ground coarsely to make
grits. In New Orleans, whole kernels are
big hominy and ground kernels
little hominy.
[grits] 
)