plan·tain

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:
1545–55; earlier pla(n)tan < Spanish plá(n)tano plantain, also plane tree < Medieval Latin pla(n)tanus, Latin platanus plane3

Dictionary.com Unabridged

plan·tain

2 [plan-tin, -tn]
noun
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:
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 platýs flat1; see platy-

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To Plantain
00:10
Plantain is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Collins
World English Dictionary
plantain1 (ˈplæntɪn) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
See also ribwort 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
 
[C14 plauntein, from Old French plantein, from Latin plantāgō, from planta sole of the foot]

plantain2 (ˈplæntɪn) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
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
 
[C16: from Spanish platano plantain, plane tree]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

plantain
"banana," 1555, from Sp. plátano, plántano, probably from Carib platana "banana" (Arawak pratane), and altered by assoc. with Sp. plátano "plane tree," from M.L. plantanus "plane tree," itself altered (by association with L. planta "plant") from L. platanus (see
plane (4)). So called from the shape of its leaves. There is no similarity or relation between this plant and plantain (2).

plantain
"weed of the genus Plantago," c.1265, from Anglo-Fr. plaunteyne, O.Fr. plantain, from L. plantaginem (nom. plantago), the common weed, from planta "sole of the foot" (see plant (n.)); so called from its flat leaves.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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