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6 dictionary results for: Legume
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
leg·ume       [leg-yoom, li-gyoom] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.any plant of the legume family, esp. those used for feed, food, or as a soil-improving crop.
2.the pod or seed vessel of such a plant.
3.any table vegetable of the legume family.
[Origin: 1670–80; < F légume vegetable < L legūmen pulse, a leguminous plant, deriv. of legere to gather]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
leg·ume       (lěg'yōōm', lə-gyōōm')  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
    1. A pod, such as that of a pea or bean, that splits into two valves with the seeds attached to one edge of the valves.
    2. Such a pod or seed used as food.
  2. A plant of the pea family.


[French légume, from Latin legūmen, bean.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
legume 
"plant of the group of the pulse family," 1676, from Fr. légume, from L. legumen, of unknown origin. One suggestion ties it to L. legere "to gather" (see lecture), because they can be scooped by the handful. Used in M.E. in the L. form legumen (1398).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
legume

noun
1. an erect or climbing bean or pea plant of the family Leguminosae 
2. the fruit or seed of any of various bean or pea plants consisting of a case that splits along both sides when ripe and having the seeds attach to one side of the case 
3. the seedpod of a leguminous plant (such as peas or beans or lentils) 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
legume       (lěg'ym', lə-gym')  Pronunciation Key 
  1. Any of a large number of eudicot plants belonging to the family Leguminosae (or Fabaceae). Their characteristic fruit is a seed pod. Legumes live in a symbiotic relationship with bacteria in structures called nodules on their roots. These bacteria are able to take nitrogen from the air, which is in a form that plants cannot use, and convert it into compounds that the plants can use. Many legumes are widely cultivated for food, as fodder for livestock, and as a means of improving the nitrogen content of soils. Beans, peas, clover, alfalfa, locust trees, and acacia trees are all legumes.
  2. The seed pod of such a plant.

leguminous adjective

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Legume

Leg"ume\ (l[e^]g"[-u]m or l[-e]*g[=u]m"), n. [F. l['e]gume, L. legumen, fr. legere to gather. So called because they may be gathered without cutting. See Legend.]

1. (Bot.) A pod dehiscent into two pieces or valves, and having the seed attached at one suture, as that of the pea.

Note: In the latter circumstance, it differs from a siliqua, in which the seeds are attached to both sutures. In popular use, a legume is called a pod, or cod; as, pea pod, or peas cod.

2. pl. The fruit of leguminous plants, as peas, beans, lupines; pulse.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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