legume
Americannoun
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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
- nonlegume noun
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”
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.
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
Studies have found that microbial fertilizers could increase legume yields by 10% to 30% in healthy soil and generate billions of dollars in benefits.
From Salon • Dec. 4, 2023
They are mostly found in the legume family of which soybeans are the main source in the human diet.
From Science Daily • Nov. 15, 2023
These plants belong to the legume family, and if you will look up the word Legumes you will find out all about these fairy factories on the roots.
From The Adventures of a Grain of Dust by Hawksworth, Hallam
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.
