groundnut

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a North American vine with fragrant blossoms and edible tubers; important food crop of Native Americans
noun nutlike tuber; important food of Native Americans
noun pod of the peanut vine containing usually 2 nuts or seeds; `groundnut' and `monkey nut' are British terms

From ground + nut. Compare Icelandic jarðhneta, German Erdnuss (both cognate with earthnut) and Hungarian földimogyoró.

In my front yard grew the strawberry, blackberry, and life-everlasting, johnswort and goldenrod, shrub-oaks and sand-cherry, blueberry and groundnut. — Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau
We knew that to mention the cheapest would be accounted best, so sometimes we ordered a light refection of puffed rice, and at others an indigestible one of boiled gram or roasted groundnuts. — My Reminiscences, Rabindranath Tagore
Flight of fowl and habitude Of the tenants of the wood; How the tortoise bears his shell, How the woodchuck digs his cell, And the ground-mole sinks his well; How the robin feeds her young, How the oriole's nest is hung; Where the whitest lilies blow, Where the freshest berries grow, Where the groundnut trails its vine, Where the wood-grape's clusters shine; Of the black wasp's cunning way, Mason of his walls of clay, And the architectural plans Of gray hornet artisans!-- For, eschewing books and tasks, Nature answers all he asks; Hand in hand with her he walks, Face to face with her he talks, Part and parcel of her joy,-- Blessings on the barefoot boy! — Poems Teachers Ask For: Selected by readers of "Normal Instructor-Primary Plans", Various

groundnut vine, Indian potato, potato bean, wild bean, Apios americana, Apios tuberosa

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