legume

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun an erect or climbing bean or pea plant of the family Leguminosae
noun the fruit or seed of any of various bean or pea plants consisting of a case that splits along both sides when ripe and having the seeds attach to one side of the case
noun the seedpod of a leguminous plant (such as peas or beans or lentils)

Borrowed from French légume, from Latin legūmen (“bean”). Doublet of legumen.

It was about as painful, I suppose, as extracting a tooth, but I finally got a grip on that swollen legume and pulled it from its inflamed pocket of flesh. — The Prairie Mother, Arthur Stringer
Another and another of the strange legumes followed, one of them bursting open and scattering its contents, bright red like the enclosing pod to rattle over the floor like tiny glass beads. — Astounding Stories, August, 1931, Various
FOOTNOTES: [7] The Attic month of Puanepsion had its commencement in the latter days of October; its name is derived from +puana+, the legumes which were offered in sacrifice to Apollo at that season. — Imaginary Conversations and Poems: A Selection, Walter Savage Landor

leguminous plant

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