plantain

1
[ plan-tin, -tn ]

noun
  1. a tropical plant, Musa paradisiaca, of the banana family, resembling the banana.

  2. its fruit, eaten cooked as a staple food in tropical regions.

Origin of plantain

1
1545–55; earlier pla(n)tan<Spanish plá(n)tano plantain, also plane tree <Medieval Latin pla(n)tanus,Latin platanusplane3

Words Nearby plantain

Other definitions for plantain (2 of 2)

plantain2
[ plan-tin, -tn ]

noun
  1. any plant of the genus Plantago, especially P. major, a weed with large, spreading leaves close to the ground and long, slender spikes of small flowers.

Origin of plantain

2
1350–1400; Middle English plauntein<Old French plantein<Latin plantāgin- (stem of plantāgō), derivative of planta sole of the foot, literally, something flat and spread out, like the broad leaf of the plantain; akin to Greek platýsflat1; see platy-

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How to use plantain in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for plantain (1 of 2)

plantain1

/ (ˈplæntɪn) /


noun
  1. any of various N temperate plants of the genus Plantago, esp P. major (great plantain), which has a rosette of broad leaves and a slender spike of small greenish flowers: family Plantaginaceae: See also ribwort

Origin of plantain

1
C14 plauntein, from Old French plantein, from Latin plantāgō, from planta sole of the foot

British Dictionary definitions for plantain (2 of 2)

plantain2

/ (ˈplæntɪn) /


noun
  1. a large tropical musaceous plant, Musa paradisiaca

  2. the green-skinned banana-like fruit of this plant, eaten as a staple food in many tropical regions

Origin of plantain

2
C16: from Spanish platano plantain, plane tree

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