chickpea

[ chik-pee ]

/ ˈtʃɪkˌpi /

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noun

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

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

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Origin of chickpea

1540–50; alteration of chich-pea, equivalent to late Middle English chiche (<Middle French ≪ Latin cicer chickpea) + pea¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use chickpea in a sentence

The chick-pea has not been found in the lake-dwellings of Switzerland, Savoy, and Italy.
Origin of Cultivated Plants|Alphonse De Candolle
The roasted chick-pea is also used as a substitute for coffee.
The Laurel Health Cookery|Evora Bucknum Perkins
The chick-pea, as found by experiment, can be parched over coals in a few moments and thus be made edible.
The Laurel Health Cookery|Evora Bucknum Perkins
The gram, or chick-pea, and various kinds of pea and vetch are grown intermixed with the wheat.
Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official|William Sleeman

Parched gram, or chick-pea, is commonly used by Indian travellers as a convenient and readily portable form of food.
Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official|William Sleeman

British Dictionary definitions for chickpea

chickpea

/ (ˈtʃɪkˌpiː) /

noun

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

Also called: garbanzo the seed of this plant

Word Origin for chickpea

C16 ciche peasen, from ciche (from French chiche, from Latin cicer chickpea) + peasen; see pea

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012