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pease

[peez]
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noun, plural pease or peas·en [pee-zuh n] /ˈpi zən/. Archaic.
  1. a pea.
  2. British Dialect. a plural of pea1.
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Origin of pease

before 900; Middle English pese, Old English peose, pise < Late Latin pisa feminine singular use of plural of Latin pisum (neuter) < Greek píson pea, pulse
Related formspease·like, adjective

pea1

[pee]
noun, plural peas, (Archaic or British Dialect) pease or peas·en [pee-zuh n] /ˈpi zən/.
  1. the round, edible seed of a widely cultivated plant, Pisum sativum, of the legume family.
  2. the plant itself.
  3. the green, somewhat inflated pod of this plant.
  4. any of various related or similar plants or their seed, as the chickpea.
  5. something resembling a pea, especially in being small and round.
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adjective
  1. pertaining to, growing, containing, or cooked with peas: We cultivated some tomato vines and a pea patch.
  2. small or small and round (usually used in combination).
  3. pea coal.
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Origin of pea1

1275–1325; Middle English; back formation from pease, taken as plural
Also called English pea, garden pea, green pea (for defs 1, 2).
Related formspea·like, adjective

pea2

[pee]
noun Nautical.
  1. bill3(def 4).
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Origin of pea2

First recorded in 1825–35; perhaps short for peak1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pease

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Miss Pease, having been invited out that day, was not present at dinner.

    Mary-'Gusta

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • Miss Pease smiled with the superiority of the corrected who is about to correct.

    Mary-'Gusta

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • England should be the first on the sea, and able to impose "pease by auctorité."

  • But the grain of corn is a quite distinct thing from the seed of pease.

  • Look at the two, for instance, through the youth of a pease blossom, Fig. 8.

British Dictionary definitions for pease

pease

noun plural pease
  1. an archaic or dialect word for pea
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Word Origin

Old English peose, via Late Latin from Latin pisa peas, pl of pisum, from Greek pison

pea

noun
  1. an annual climbing leguminous plant, Pisum sativum, with small white flowers and long green pods containing edible green seeds: cultivated in temperate regions
    1. the seed of this plant, eaten as a vegetable
    2. (as modifier)pea soup
  3. any of several other leguminous plants, such as the sweet pea, chickpea, and cowpea
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Derived Formspealike, adjective

Word Origin

C17: from pease (incorrectly assumed to be a plural)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pease

Old English; see pea, of which this is the etymologically correct form.

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pea

n.

early or mid-17c., false singular from Middle English pease (plural pesen), which was both single and collective (e.g. wheat, corn) but the "s" sound was mistaken for the plural inflection. From Old English pise (West Saxon), piose (Mercian) "pea," from Late Latin pisa, variant of Latin pisum "pea," from Greek pison "the pea," perhaps of Thracian or Phrygian origin [Klein].

In Southern U.S. and the Caribbean, used of other legumes as well. Pea soup is first recorded 1711 (pease-soup); applied to London fogs since at least 1849. Pea-shooter attested from 1803.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with pease

pea

see like as two peas in a pod.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.