plantain definition | Dictionary.com

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 < Sp plá(n)tano plantain, also plane tree < ML pla(n)tanus, L platanus plane ³

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

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 (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

plan·tain¹ (plān'tən) Pronunciation Key
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.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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plan·tain² (plān'tən) Pronunciation Key
n.

A large, tropical, treelike herb (Musa paradisiaca) of southeast Asia, resembling the banana and bearing similar fruit.
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 © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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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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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

plantain
noun
1.	any of numerous plants of the genus Plantago; mostly small roadside or dooryard weeds with elliptic leaves and small spikes of very small flowers; seeds of some used medicinally
2.	a banana tree bearing hanging clusters of edible angular greenish starchy fruits; tropics and subtropics
3.	starchy banana-like fruit; eaten (always cooked) as a staple vegetable throughout the tropics

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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).

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

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