[plan-tin, -tn] 
| 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. |
[plan-tin, -tn] | any plant of the genus Plantago, esp. P. major, a weed with large, spreading leaves close to the ground and long, slender spikes of small flowers. |
| plan·tain 1 (plān'tən) n. Any of various plants of the genus Plantago that produce dense spikes of small greenish flowers, especially either of two Eurasian weeds, P. major or P. lanceolata. Also called ribwort. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin plantāgō, plantāgin-, from planta, sole of the foot (from its broad leaves); see plat- in Indo-European roots.] |
| plan·tain 2 (plān'tən) n.
[Spanish plátano, plántano, plane tree, plantain, from Latin platanus; see plane4.] |