plantain

English

Common plantain (Plantago)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈplant(e)ɪn/
• (US) IPA: /ˈplæntɪn/, IPA: /ˈplæn.teɪn/

Etymology 1

From Anglo-Norman plainteine et al., Old French plaintain, from Latin plantaginem (“plantain”), accusative of plantāgō, from planta (“sole”), because of the broad, flat shape of the plantain leaves.

Noun

plantain (plural plantains)

1. 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.
   • 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society 2007, p. 225:

     The roots of Plantain and Pellitory of Spain beaten to powder and put into hollow teeth, takes away the pains of them.

Synonyms

• waybread

Translations

small plant

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 芣苢 (cmn), 車前草 (cmn)

• Czech: jitrocel (cs) m
• Dutch: weegbree (nl) m
• Finnish: ratamo (fi)
• French: plantain (fr) m
• German: Wegerich (de) m
• Italian: piantaggine (it) f

• Japanese: 車前草 (ja) (おおばこ, ōbako)
• Polish: babka (pl) f
• Portuguese: plantago (pt) m
• Romanian: pătlagină (ro) f
• Russian: подорожник (ru) (podoróžnik) m 
• Spanish: llantén (es) m
• Swedish: kämpar (sv) c (genus Plantago), groblad (sv) n (Plantago major), strandpryl (sv) c (Plantago uniflora)

See also

• Plantago on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Plantago
• Plantago on Wikispecies. Wikispecies: Plantago
• Plantago on Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia Commons: Plantago

Etymology 2

From Spanish plantano, obsolete variant of plátano, from Galibi Carib platana (“banana”).

plantain (Musa)fruit slices frying

Noun

plantain (plural plantains)

1. A plant in the genus Musa, the genus that includes banana, but with lower sugar content than banana.
2. The fruit of the plant, usually cooked before eating and used like potatoes.

Translations

fruit

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 芣苢 (cmn)

• Dutch: bakbanaan (nl)
• Finnish: keittobanaani (fi), jauhobanaani (fi), ruokabanaani (fi)
• French: banane plantain (fr) f, (Africa) plantain (fr) f, (West Indies) banane farine (fr) f, banane cochon (fr) f, banane à cuire (fr) f
• German: Kochbanane (de) f, Gemüsebanane (de) f, Mehlbanane (de) f, Pisangfeige (de) f

• Japanese: バショウ属 (ja) (バショウぞく, bashō-zoku)
• Marathi: राजेळी केळ (mr) (rajeli kela)
• Polish: banan zwyczajny (pl), banan właściwy (pl), banan rajski (pl), pizang (pl), figa rajska (pl), figa błogosławiona (pl), muza (pl)
• Spanish: (Mexico) plátano macho (es) m, plátano (es) m
• Swedish: kokbanan (sv) c, mjölbanan (sv) c, pisang (sv)

Related terms

• banana plantain
• bocadillo plantain
• cooking plantain

See also

• Plantain on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Musa on Wikispecies. Wikispecies: Musa
• banana

Quotations

• For usage examples of this term, see the citations page.

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French

Etymology

From Latin plantago, plantaginem.

Noun

plantain m (plural plantains)

1. plantain, any plant of genus Plantago