leguminous

American  

[li-gyoo-muh-nuhs] / lɪˈgyu mə nəs /

adjective

1. pertaining to, of the nature of, or bearing legumes.

2. belonging to the Leguminosae.

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leguminous British  

/ lɪˈɡjuːmɪnəs /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the Fabaceae (formerly Leguminosae ), a family of flowering plants having pods (or legumes) as fruits and root nodules enabling storage of nitrogen-rich material: includes peas, beans, clover, gorse, acacia, and carob

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Usage

What does leguminous mean? Leguminous is an adjective used to describe plants in the legume family, which includes the plants that produce some beans, peas, and lentils. The word legume most commonly refers to the edible seed pods of these plants (the beans, peas, lentils, and other things that they bear as fruit). 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 leguminous plants are widely grown as food for humans and animals. Some legumes are planted to improve the nitrogen content of the soil where they grow. Example: My nutritionist recommended that I add more leguminous sources of protein to my diet.

Other Word Forms

• nonleguminous adjective

Etymology

Origin of leguminous

1650–60; < Latin legūmin- (stem of legūmen; see legume) + -ous

Example Sentences

On the one hand, leguminous cover crops such as cowpeas and vetch add nitrogen to the soil, which microbes can transform into nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas.

From Science Magazine • Aug. 16, 2022

In the Dominican Republic, for example, an extinct leguminous tree provided most of the resin responsible for the area’s 16-million-year-old amber fossils.

From Washington Post • Jan. 20, 2014

Slightly more than one ounce of leguminous vegetables, such as peas or beans.

From Time Magazine Archive

Hutchinson strung out calabash, a local fruit, so that it floated eerily in the sea; he also transferred yellow leguminous flowers from nearby slopes to the ocean floor.

From Time Magazine Archive

In other experiments BHC, aldrin, lindane, heptachlor, and DDD all prevented nitrogen-fixing bacteria from forming the necessary root nodules on leguminous plants.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson