chickpea

American  

[chik-pee] / ˈtʃɪkˌpi /

noun

• chickpeas
  plural

1. Also called garbanzo.  a widely cultivated plant, Cicer arietinum, of the legume family, bearing pods containing pealike seeds.

2. the seeds of this plant, used extensively as a food.

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chickpea British  

/ ˈtʃɪkˌpiː /

noun

1. a bushy leguminous plant, Cicer arietinum, cultivated for its edible pealike seeds in the Mediterranean region, central Asia, and Africa

2. Also called: garbanzo.  the seed of this plant

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• chickpeas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of chickpea

1540–50; alteration of chich-pea, equivalent to late Middle English chiche (< Middle French ≪ Latin cicer chickpea) + pea ¹

Explanation

A chickpea is a delicious, round bean that's also known as a garbanzo. Try roasting chickpeas for a crunchy snack, or make falafel by grinding them, shaping them into balls, and frying them. If you've tasted hummus, you know what chickpeas taste like — at least when they've been pureed with garlic, tahini, and lemon juice. It's also common to toss chickpeas into salads, cook them in stews and soups, and grind them into flour for baking. In the 18th century, chickpea evolved from chich-pease, which is rooted in the Latin word for "pea," cicer. Historians have found evidence that chickpeas were around as long ago as 3500 BCE.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chickpea chickpeas

Marlene Cooper has paid $100 a week to get a box of five meals from Blue Apron for the last decade, delighting in dinners like chicken enchilada skillet and cilantro paneer and chickpea curry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

By sauce No. 4 — Chickpotle, a creamy chickpea sauce with smoky chipotle and ghost pepper with a 4/10 heat level — Holland and Bernthal were loosening up and trading barbs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

My mini-blender has long been a quiet ally — mincing onions when my joints aren’t cooperating, blitzing together a very good chickpea salad in no time.

From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2026

Before planting, the researchers coated the chickpea seeds with arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2026

I tried to shoot out another chickpea, but it didn’t come out.

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri

As a rough guide, fill a quarter of your plate with protein foods, such as meat, fish, beans, lentils or chickpeas, at every meal.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026

Researchers found that people who regularly consumed foods such as beans, lentils, chickpeas, tofu, edamame, and soy milk were less likely to develop hypertension.

From Science Daily ● May 26, 2026

But the real addition was a can of chickpeas, aquafaba and all, simmered alongside the Arborio until the beans softened and thickened the pot into something deeply creamy and comforting.

From Salon ● May 12, 2026

She only buys organic food, citing limits on the use of glyphosate in organic farming, and avoids foods that she says have higher glyphosate residues, such as chickpeas and wheat products.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026

One might therefore have been deceived into supposing that chickpeas were domesticated in India.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond