Plantain word meaning and definition

[noun] starchy banana-like fruit; eaten (always cooked) as a staple vegetable throughout the tropics
[noun] a banana tree bearing hanging clusters of edible angular greenish starchy fruits; tropics and subtropics
[noun] any of numerous plants of the genus Plantago; mostly small roadside or dooryard weeds with elliptic leaves and small spikes of very small flowers; seeds of some used medicinally

\Plan"tain\, n. [Cf. F. plantain-arbre, plantanier, Sp. pl['a]ntano, pl['a]tano; prob. same word as plane tree.] 1. (Bot.) A treelike perennial herb ({Musa paradisiaca}) of tropical regions, bearing immense leaves and large clusters of the fruits called plantains. See {Musa}. 2. The fruit of this plant. It is long and somewhat cylindrical, slightly curved, and, when ripe, soft, fleshy, and covered with a thick but tender yellowish skin. The plantain is a staple article of food in most tropical countries, especially when cooked. {Plantain cutter}, or {Plantain eater} (Zo["o]l.), any one of several large African birds of the genus {Musophaga}, or family {Musophagid[ae]}, especially {Musophaga violacea}. See {Turaco}. They are allied to the cuckoos. {Plantain squirrel} (Zo["o]l.), a Java squirrel ({Sciurus plantani}) which feeds upon plantains. {Plantain tree} (Bot.), the treelike herb {Musa paradisiaca}. See def. 1 (above).
\Plan"tain\, n. [F., fr. L. plantago. Cf. {Plant}.] (Bot.) Any plant of the genus {Plantago}, but especially the {P. major}, a low herb with broad spreading radical leaves, and slender spikes of minute flowers. It is a native of Europe, but now found near the abode of civilized man in nearly all parts of the world. {Indian plantain}. (Bot.) See under {Indian}. {Mud plantain}, a homely North American aquatic plant ({Heteranthera reniformis}), having broad, reniform leaves. {Rattlesnake plantain}, an orchidaceous plant ({Goodyera pubescens}), with the leaves blotched and spotted with white. {Ribwort plantain}. See {Ribwort}. {Robin's plantain}, the {Erigeron bellidifolium}, a common daisylike plant of North America. {Water plantain}, a plant of the genus {Alisma}, having acrid leaves, and formerly regarded as a specific against hydrophobia. --Loudon.

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