chickpea

[ chik-pee ]

noun
  1. Also called garbanzo. a widely cultivated plant, Cicer arietinum, of the legume family, bearing pods containing pealike seeds.

  2. the seeds of this plant, used extensively as a food.

Origin of chickpea

1
1540–50; alteration of chich-pea, equivalent to late Middle English chiche (<Middle French ≪ Latin cicer chickpea) + pea1

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How to use chickpea in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for chickpea

chickpea

/ (ˈtʃɪkˌpiː) /


noun
  1. a bushy leguminous plant, Cicer arietinum, cultivated for its edible pealike seeds in the Mediterranean region, central Asia, and Africa

  2. Also called: garbanzo the seed of this plant

Origin of chickpea

1
C16 ciche peasen, from ciche (from French chiche, from Latin cicer chickpea) + peasen; see pea

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012