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spinach

 - 4 dictionary results

spin⋅ach

[spin-ich]
–noun
1. a plant, Spinacia oleracea, cultivated for its edible, crinkly or flat leaves.
2. the leaves.

Origin:
1520–30; < MF espinache, espinage < OSp espinaca, alter. of Ar isfānākh, perh. < Pers


spin⋅ach⋅like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To spinach
spin·ach   (spĭn'ĭch)   
n.  
  1. A widely cultivated southwest Asian plant (Spinacia oleracea) having succulent edible leaves.

  2. The leaves of this plant, eaten as a vegetable.


[Middle English, from Old French espinache, from Medieval Latin spināchium, from Arabic 'isfānāḫ, from Persian espenāj, espenākh.]
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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Slang Dictionary
spinach

  1. n.
    money. (Because it is green. See also cabbage; lettuce.) : Look at this! One hundred dollars in good old American spinach!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

spinach 
1530, from M.Fr. espinache (Fr. épinard), from O.Prov. espinarc, which perhaps is via Catalan espinac, from Andalusian Arabic isbinakh, from Arabic isbanakh, from Pers. aspanakh "spinach." But OED is not convinced the Middle Eastern words are native, and based on the plethora of Romanic forms pronounces the origin "doubtful." Old folk etymology connected the word with L. spina (see spine) or with M.L. Hispanicum olus. For pronunciation, see cabbage. In 1930s Amer.Eng. colloq. it had a sense of "nonsense, rubbish," based on a famous "New Yorker" cartoon of Dec. 8, 1928.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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