VETCH

vetch

(noun) any of various climbing plants of the genus Vicia having pinnately compound leaves that terminate in tendrils and small variously colored flowers; includes valuable forage and soil-building plants

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

vetch (plural vetches)

any of several leguminous plants, of the genus Vicia, often grown as green manure and for their edible seeds

any of several similar plants within the subfamily Faboideae

Synonyms

• tare (rare)

Hyponyms

• (Vicia): garden vetch, common vetch, narrow-leaved vetch (Vicia sativa); American vetch, purple vetch, mat vetch (Vicia americana); bitter vetch, blister vetch (Vicia ervilia); tufted vetch (Vicia cracca); bard vetch (Vicia articulata); Bithynian vetch (Vicia bithynica); Carolina wood vetch (Vicia caroliniana); fodder vetch, hairy vetch, winter vetch (Vicia villosa); bard vetch (Vicia articulata); French vetch (Vicia serratifolia); Hungarian vetch (Vicia pannonica); Kashubian vetch (Vicia cassubica); spring vetch (Vicia lathyroides); yellow vetch (Vicia lutea); Hawaiian vetch (Vicia menziesii); pygmyflower vetch (Vicia minutiflora); single-flowered vetch (Vicia monantha); black vetch, giant vetch (Vicia nigricans); upright vetch, wood bitter-vetch (Vicia orobus); slender vetch (Vicia parviflora); pea-flowered vetch (Vicia pisiformis); bush vetch (Vicia sepium); wood vetch (Vicia sylvatica); fine-leaved vetch (Vicia tenuifolia); smooth vetch (Vicia tetrasperma)

Source: Wiktionary

Vetch, n. Etym: [Also fitch; OE. ficche, feche, for veche, OF. veche, vecce, vesche, vesce, F. vesce, fr. L. vicia.] (Bot.)

Definition: Any leguminous plant of the genus Vicia, some species of which are valuable for fodder. The common species is V. sativa.

Note: The name is also applied to many other leguminous plants of different genera; as the chichling vetch, of the genus Lathyrus; the horse vetch, of the genus Hippocrepis; the kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria); the milk vetch, of the genus Astragalus; the licorice vetch, or wild licorice (Abrus precatorius).

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition