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lettuce - 4 dictionary results

let⋅tuce

  [let-is]
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–noun
1. a cultivated plant, Lactuca sativa, occurring in many varieties and having succulent leaves used for salads.
2. any species of Lactuca.
3. Slang. U.S. dollar bills; greenbacks.
Origin:
1250–1300; 1925–30 for def. 3; ME letuse, appar. < OF laitues, pl. of laitue < L lactūca a lettuce, perh. deriv. of lac, s. lact- milk, with termination as in erūca rocket 2 (or by assoc. with Gk galaktoûchos having milk)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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let·tuce   (lět'əs)   
n.  
    1. Any of various plants of the genus Lactuca, especially L. sativa, cultivated for their edible leaves.
    2. The leaves of L. sativa, used especially in salads.
  2. Slang Paper money.

[Middle English lettuse, from Old French laitues, pl. of laitue, from Latin lactūca, from lac, lact-, milk (from its milky juice); see melg- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Lettuce

Let"tuce\ (l[e^]t"t[i^]s), n. [OE. letuce, prob. through Old French from some Late Latin derivative of L. lactuca lettuce, which, according to Varro, is fr. lac, lactis, milk, on account of the milky white juice which flows from it when it is cut: cf. F. laitue. Cf. Lacteal, Lactucic.] (Bot.) A composite plant of the genus Lactuca (L. sativa), the leaves of which are used as salad. Plants of this genus yield a milky juice, from which lactucarium is obtained. The commonest wild lettuce of the United States is L. Canadensis.

Hare's lettuce, Lamb's lettuce. See under Hare, and Lamb.

Lettuce opium. See Lactucarium.

Sea lettuce, certain papery green seaweeds of the genus Ulva.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : lettuce
Spanish: lechuga,
German: der Kopfsalat,
Japanese: レタス
More Translations »

lettuce 
c.1290, from O.Fr. laitues, pl. of laitue, from L. lactuca "lettuce," from lac (gen. lactis) "milk" (see lactation); so called in allusion to the milky juice of the plant.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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