plantain
(noun) starchy banana-like fruit; eaten (always cooked) as a staple vegetable throughout the tropics
plantain, plantain tree, Musa paradisiaca
(noun) a banana tree bearing hanging clusters of edible angular greenish starchy fruits; tropics and subtropics
plantain
(noun) 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
Source: WordNet® 3.1
plantain (plural plantains)
A plant of the genus Plantago, with a rosette of sessile leaves about 10 cm long with a narrow part instead of a petiole, and with a spike inflorescence with the flower spacing varying widely among the species. See also psyllium.
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plantain (plural plantains)
A plant in the genus Musa, the genus that includes banana, but with lower sugar content than banana.
The fruit of the plant, usually cooked before eating and used like potatoes.
• plainant
Source: Wiktionary
Plan"tain, n. Etym: [Cf. F. plantain-arbre, plantanier, Sp. plántano, plátano; prob. same word as plane tree.]
1. (Bot.)
Definition: 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 (Zoöl.), any one of several large African birds of the genus Musophaga, or family Musophagidæ, especially Musophaga violacea. See Turaco. They are allied to the cuckoos.
– Plantain squirrel (Zoöl.), a Java squirrel (Sciurus plantani) which feeds upon plantains.
– Plantain tree (Bot.), the treelike herb Musa paradisiaca. See def. 1 (above).
Plan"tain, n. Etym: [F., fr. L. plantago. Cf. Plant.] (Bot.)
Definition: 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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
12 March 2025
(noun) small Australian parakeet usually light green with black and yellow markings in the wild but bred in many colors
Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.
