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Definition of plantain - 9 dictionary results

plan⋅tain

1  [plan-tin, -tn]
Use plantain in a Sentence
–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 < Sp plá(n)tano plantain, also plane tree < ML pla(n)tanus, L platanus plane 3

plan⋅tain

2  [plan-tin, -tn]
–noun
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.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME plauntein < OF plantein < L plantāgin- (s. of plantāgō), deriv. of planta sole of the foot, lit., something flat and spread out, like the broad leaf of the plantain; akin to Gk platýs flat 1 ; see platy-
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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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.  
  1. A large, tropical, treelike herb (Musa paradisiaca) of southeast Asia, resembling the banana and bearing similar fruit.
  2. The fruit of this plant, used as a staple food in tropical regions.

[Spanish plátano, plántano, plane tree, plantain, from Latin platanus; see plane4.]
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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Plantain

Plan"tain\, n. [Cf. F. plantain-arbre, plantanier, Sp. pl['a]ntano, pl['a]tano; prob. same word as plane tree.]

1. (Bot.) A treelike perennial herb (Musa paradisiaca) of tropical regions, bearing immense leaves and large clusters of the fruits called plantains. See Musa.

2. The fruit of this plant. It is long and somewhat cylindrical, slightly curved, and, when ripe, soft, fleshy, and covered with a thick but tender yellowish skin. The plantain is a staple article of food in most tropical countries, especially when cooked.

Plantain cutter, or Plantain eater (Zo["o]l.), any one of several large African birds of the genus Musophaga, or family Musophagid[ae], especially Musophaga violacea. See Turaco. They are allied to the cuckoos.

Plantain squirrel (Zo["o]l.), a Java squirrel (Sciurus plantani) which feeds upon plantains.

Plantain tree (Bot.), the treelike herb Musa paradisiaca. See def. 1 (above).

Plantain

Plan"tain\, n. [F., fr. L. plantago. Cf. Plant.] (Bot.) Any plant of the genus Plantago, but especially the P. major, a low herb with broad spreading radical leaves, and slender spikes of minute flowers. It is a native of Europe, but now found near the abode of civilized man in nearly all parts of the world.

Indian plantain. (Bot.) See under Indian.

Mud plantain, a homely North American aquatic plant (Heteranthera reniformis), having broad, reniform leaves.

Rattlesnake plantain, an orchidaceous plant (Goodyera pubescens), with the leaves blotched and spotted with white.

Ribwort plantain. See Ribwort.

Robin's plantain, the Erigeron bellidifolium, a common daisylike plant of North America.

Water plantain, a plant of the genus Alisma, having acrid leaves, and formerly regarded as a specific against hydrophobia. --Loudon.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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plantain  (1)
"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  (2)
"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, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: plan·tain
Pronunciation: 'plant-&n
Function: noun
: any plant of the genus Plantago
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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