legume
Americannoun
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legumes
plural
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any plant of the legume family, especially those used for feed, food, or as a soil-improving crop.
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the pod or seed vessel of such a plant.
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any table vegetable of the legume family.
noun
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the long dry dehiscent fruit produced by leguminous plants; a pod
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any table vegetable of the family Fabaceae (formerly Leguminosae ), esp beans or peas
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any leguminous plant
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Any of a large number of eudicot plants belonging to the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae). Their characteristic fruit is a seed pod. Legumes live in a symbiotic relationship with bacteria in structures called nodules on their roots. These bacteria are able to take nitrogen from the air, which is in a form that plants cannot use, and convert it into compounds that the plants can use. Many legumes are widely cultivated for food, as fodder for livestock, and as a means of improving the nitrogen content of soils. Beans, peas, clover, alfalfa, locust trees, and acacia trees are all legumes.
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The seed pod of such a plant.
Usage
What does legume mean? The word legume most commonly refers to the edible seed pods of plants in the legume family, which includes some beans, peas, and lentils. The peanut is famously not a nut but a legume. The word legume can also refer to the plants themselves. These include herbs, shrubs, trees, and vines that usually have compound leaves and clusters of irregular flowers. The fruit from such plants (the beans or other edible part) usually comes in the form of a pod that splits along both sides—chickpeas and peanuts split down the middle in this way. Many legumes are widely grown as food for humans and animals. Some legumes are planted to improve the nitrogen content of the soil where they grow. An adjective form of the word is leguminous, which is used to describe such plants. Example: My nutritionist recommended legumes as a good source of protein.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of legume
First recorded in 1670–80; from French légume “vegetable,” from Latin legūmen “pulse” (a leguminous plant), derivative of legere “to choose, gather, read”
Explanation
A legume is not your regular type of fruit; it's more like a pod. Peas, beans, and peanuts are all examples of legumes. A legume is a type of food that comes from a specific type of plant that is also called a legume. Legumes come from the family Leguminosae, and a trait all legumes share is that they grow in a type of pod. A bowl of pea soup is full of legumes, and so is a bag of peanuts. Lentils, soy, and clover are all legumes. Legumes are high in protein and not very fatty, so they are generally considered healthy.
Vocabulary lists containing legume
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Thousands of children may be avoiding peanut allergies thanks to research indicating that early exposure to—rather than avoidance of—the legume is key.
From Slate ● Oct. 23, 2025
At the Shoreline Fuel Mart, the longtime home of the languishing legume, an employee answered a phone call from a Times reporter this week with a sigh, saying: “Everybody keeps calling us about this.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2025
Moreover, it was found that signalling exchange between legume and its symbiont plays a critical role in modulating the profile of root secreted molecules, influencing the assembly of a symbiotic root microbiome.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2024
A recent study, which referred to carob as a “neglected legume of the Mediterranean Basin,” called it a functional food due to its fiber and mineral content.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2024
Each legume has its own type of nodule-forming bacteria.
From A Living from the Land by William B. Duryee
The Mediterranean diet emphasizes olive oil, fish, legumes, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other minimally processed foods.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026
But over the years, the mushy yellow-brown legumes "became an acquired taste like a strong cheese can, because you know how cheese can smell like dirty socks," the 47-year-old Arizonan said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
Khichdi, derived from the Sanskrit word khicca, meaning a dish made with rice and legumes, dates back to the ninth century B.C.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026
Lesley Burnside, whose 15-year-old son Joe has severe allergies to eggs, nuts and legumes, said the pressure does not ease as children move through the school system.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
In Europe and Asia, farmers try to avoid stressing the soil by rotating crops; they may plant wheat one year, legumes the next, and let the field lie fallow in the year following.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
