legume

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.

The first records of the word legume in English come from around the 1600s. It comes from the French version of the word, légume, meaning “vegetable.” It ultimately derives from the Latin legūmen, meaning “bean,” from the Latin verb legere, meaning “to pick (a crop).”

Legumes are eaten and used to make foods around the world. Some of the most popular legumes are chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), which are a staple of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines. Hummus is made from chickpeas. One of the most versatile legumes is the soybean, which is used to make tofu, soy sauce, some vegetable oil, and other products marketed as “plant-based.” Like soybeans, black-eyed peas are eaten by humans as well as used to feed livestock (hence their other name, cowpeas) and planted to improve the soil.

Legumes add nitrogen to soil through bacteria that live on their roots. These bacteria take nitrogen from the air—which is otherwise unusable by the plants—and convert it into compounds that the plants can use. Think about that next time you’re dipping into your hummus.

What are some other forms of legume?

• leguminous (adjective)

What are some words that share a root or word element with legume? 

• legumin

What are some words that often get used in discussing legume?

• plant
• protein
• peanut
• pea
• bean
• lentil
• chickpea
• soybean
• black-eyed pea
• vegetable

Legumes are most often discussed in relation to eating them.

To help you prevent iron deficiency, eat iron-rich foods like:
🥩meat
🥚eggs
🟢 legumes (like beans, lentils and chickpeas)
🥬 dark leafy greens
🥜nuts and seeds https://t.co/4LwpxjZJwK pic.twitter.com/mD7Br0KBFB

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) April 21, 2020

Do you like beans, peas, lentils, or chickpeas? DYK Americans ate 12 pounds of legumes per person in 2017. Learn more: https://t.co/E9qZj0q0zJ #NationalEatBeansDay pic.twitter.com/HOBj939kaH

— Economic Research Service (@USDA_ERS) July 3, 2020

I can’t believe peanuts are legumes

— anna (@annahilzeil) June 29, 2020

Which of the following foods is a legume?

A. peanut
B. soybean
C. chickpea
D. all of the above