1. plantain(n = noun.plant) - 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;
is a kind of herb, herbaceous plant
is a member of genus plantago, plantago
has particulars: buckthorn, english plantain, narrow-leaved plantain, plantago lanceolata, ribgrass, ribwort, ripple-grass, broad-leaved plantain, cart-track plant, common plantain, plantago major, white-man's foot, whiteman's foot, hoary plantain, plantago media, fleawort, plantago psyllium, psyllium, spanish psyllium, broad-leaved plantain, plantago rugelii, rugel's plantain, hoary plantain, plantago virginica
2. plantain(n = noun.plant) musa paradisiaca, plantain tree - a banana tree bearing hanging clusters of edible angular greenish starchy fruits; tropics and subtropics;
is a kind of banana, banana tree
has parts: plantain
3. plantain(n = noun.food) - starchy banana-like fruit; eaten (always cooked) as a staple vegetable throughout the tropics;
is a kind of veg, vegetable, veggie
is a part of musa paradisiaca, plantain, plantain tree
1. A treelike perennial herb (
2. The fruit of this plant. It is long and somewhat cylindrical, slightly curved, and, when ripe, soft, fleshy, and covered with a thick but tender yellowish skin. The plantain is a staple article of food in most tropical countries, especially when cooked. [1913 Webster]
Any plant of the genus
plantain, n. any shrub of the genus Plantago, with broad flat leaves spread out close to the ground and seeds used as food for birds and as a mild laxative.
Idiom:
plantain lily = HOSTA.
plantain, n.
1 a banana plant, Musa paradisiaca, widely grown for its fruit.
2 the starchy fruit of this containing less sugar than a dessert banana and chiefly used in cooking.
Etymology:
earlier platan f. Sp. pl{aacute}(n)tano plane-tree, prob. assim. f. Galibi palatana etc.
broad-leaved plantain, common plantain, english plantain, hoary plantain, indian plantain, mud plantain, narrow-leaved plantain, narrow-leaved water plantain, plantain family, plantain lily, plantain tree, rattlesnake plantain, ribbon-leaved water plantain, robin's plantain, rugel's plantain, water plantain