ENGLISH
REFERENCE

pea

n.
US //ˈpi// UK //pˈiː// pea
  1. 1 vegetable (n.)
    A2 Elementary Cooking

    a small, round, green seed that you eat as a vegetable.

    the small, spherical, edible seed of the legume Pisum sativum.

    Example

    She served the roast chicken with a side of mashed potatoes and fresh peas.

    Example

    The chef insisted on shelling the peas by hand to ensure that only the most tender specimens were included in the spring risotto.
    • green pea
    • garden pea
  2. 2 the plant (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    the climbing plant that produces pods containing peas.

    any of several leguminous plants of the family Fabaceae, characterized by climbing stems and seed-bearing pods.

    Example

    The pea plants in the garden are starting to climb up the wooden fence.

    Example

    Mendel's pioneering work in genetics relied on the careful cross-pollination of different varieties of the common garden pea.
Etymology 1

Etymology tree Ancient Greek πίσον (píson)bor. Latin pisum Late Latin pisader. Old English pise Middle English pese English peasebf. English pea Back-formation from pease, an original singular reinterpreted as a plural. Further from Middle English pese (“a pea”), from Old English pise, from Latin pisa, pisum, from Ancient Greek πίσον (píson).

Etymology 2

From having the appearance of a pea (see English etymology 1), the edible seed of Pisum sativum, the pea plant.

Etymology 3

From Middle English pe, po, poue, pa, paue, from Old English pēa, pāwa (“peacock”) (compare Old English pāwe (“peahen”)) and Old Norse pái (“peacock”), both from Proto-Germanic *pāwô (“peacock”), from Latin pāvō (“peacock”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Pau, West Frisian pau, Dutch pauw, German Pfau. Doublet of Pavo.

Idioms2 entries

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