plantain
Meanings
Plural: plantains
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
- a banana tree bearing hanging clusters of edible angular greenish starchy fruits; tropics and subtropics
- starchy banana-like fruit; eaten (always cooked) as a staple vegetable throughout the tropics
- A plant of the genus Plantago, with a rosette of sessile leaves about 10 cm (4") 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.
- 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.
Origin / Etymology
Inherited from Middle English planteyne, planteyn, from Anglo-Norman plainteine et al., Old French plaintain, from Latin plantāgō, from planta (“sole of the foot”), a nasalized form of Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“flat; to spread”), because of the broad, flat shape of the plantain leaves.
Scrabble Score: 10
plantain is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordplantain is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
plantain is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 14
plantain is a valid Words With Friends word