lentil

American  

[len-til, -tl] / ˈlɛn tɪl, -tl /

noun

• lentils
  plural

1. a plant, Lens culinaris, of the legume family, having flattened, biconvex seeds used as food.

2. the seed itself.

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lentil British  

/ ˈlɛntɪl /

noun

1. a small annual leguminous plant, Lens culinaris, of the Mediterranean region and W Asia, having edible brownish convex seeds

2. any of the seeds of this plant, which are cooked and eaten as a vegetable, in soups, etc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• lentils
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lentil

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English, from Old French lentille, from Vulgar Latin lentīcula (unrecorded), from Latin lenticula; see lenticle

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lentil lentils

“How can you make a lentil dish really exciting?’

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

The spread often included lamb, chicken, rice and his famous lentil soup.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026

Genetic analyses show that many of the lentil varieties grown on the islands today descend from lentils brought by Indigenous settlers from North Africa in the 200s.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 26, 2025

There’s also chingri diye mulo shaak, a non-vegetarian variation of the same dish that swaps out lentil dumplings for shrimp.

From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2025

Later, after our chicken and lentil dinner, Nino Carlitos says, “Thank you, m’hija. That was mriquisimo.”

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau

Amino acids are the building blocks used to make proteins, and leucine is especially abundant in protein rich foods such as dairy products, meat, beans, and lentils.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026

Francesca says she eats bread with Nutella for breakfast, a chocolate-filled sponge cake as a snack, pasta with lentils for lunch and usually chicken for dinner.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

“It’s traditionally done with rice and beans, but this one I do with lentils and red quinoa, which those two by themselves are powerfully protein and fiber packed,” she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

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

But we could swallow the fear of ghosts more readily than we could swallow the spoonfuls of lentils.

From "Tasting the Sky" by Ibtisam Barakat