pea
- 01 A2 Elementary
a small, round, green seed that you eat as a vegetable.
the small, spherical, edible seed of the legume Pisum sativum.
Simple“She served the roast chicken with a side of mashed potatoes and fresh peas.”
In context“The chef insisted on shelling the peas by hand to ensure that only the most tender specimens were included in the spring risotto.”
Synonymsgreen peagarden pea - 02 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.
Simple“The pea plants in the garden are starting to climb up the wooden fence.”
In context“Mendel's pioneering work in genetics relied on the careful cross-pollination of different varieties of the common garden pea.”
Synonymslegumepulse
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).
From having the appearance of a pea (see English etymology 1), the edible seed of Pisum sativum, the pea plant.
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.