plantain

English

Common plantain (Plantago major)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈplæntɪn/, /ˈplæn.teɪn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈplæntɪn/, /ˈplæn.teɪn/
• (Caribbean) IPA^(key): /ˈplɑːntɪn/, [ˈplaː(n)ʔn̩]
• Hyphenation: plan‧tain

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle English planteyne, planteyn, from Anglo-Norman plainteine et al., Old French plaintain, from Latin plantāgō, from planta (“sole of the foot”), a nasalized form of Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“flat; to spread”), because of the broad, flat shape of the plantain leaves.

Noun

plantain (plural plantains)

1. A plant of the genus Plantago, with a rosette of sessile leaves about 10 cm (4") long with a narrow part instead of a petiole, and with a spike inflorescence with the flower spacing varying widely among the species. See also psyllium.
   • 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society, published 2007, page 225:

     The roots of Plantain and Pellitory of Spain beaten to powder and put into hollow teeth, takes away the pains of them.

   • 2003, Ernst Jünger, translated by Michael Hofmann, Storm of Steel, Penguin, published 2004, page 41:

     The paths too are overgrown, but easily identified by the presence on them of round-leaved plantains.

Synonyms

• waybread, fleawort

Derived terms

• African plantain (Plantago afra)
• American plantain (Plantago rugelii)
• Asian plantain (Plantago asiatica)
• blackseed plantain (Plantago rugelii)
• blond plantain (Plantago ovata)
• bracted plantain (Plantago aristata)
• broadleaf plantain (Plantago major, Plantago rugelii)
• buck's horn plantain, buckhorn plantain, buckshorn plantain (Plantago coronopus)
• California plantain (Plantago erecta, P. hookeriana)
• common plantain (Plantago major)
• depressed plantain (Plantago depressa)
• doronic plantain (Doronicum spp.)
• dwarf plantain (Plantago erecta)
• English plantain (Plantago lanceolata)
• evergreen plantain (Plantago sempervirens)
• greater plantain (Plantago major)
• hare's foot plantain, hartshorn plantain (Plantago lagopus)
• heart-leaf plantain (Plantago cordata)
• Heller's plantain (Plantago helleri)
• hoary plantain (Plantago media; Plantago virginica)
• Indian plantain (Arnoglossum spp.; Plantago ovata, Cacalia spp.)
• mud plantain (Heteranthera spp.)
• narrowleaf plantain, narrow-leaved plantain (Plantago lanceolata)
• pale plantain (Plantago rugelii)
• plantain goldenweed (Pyrrocoma uniflora)
• plantain-leaf leopard's-bane (Doronicum plantagineum)
• plantain lily (Hosta spp.)
• plantain signal grass (Urochloa plantaginea)
• plantain water
• poor Robin's plantain (Erigeron spp.; Hieracium venosum)
• rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera spp.)
• ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata)
• Robin's plantain (Erigeron spp.; Pilosella venosa)
• Rugel's plantain (Plantago rugelii)
• sand plantain (Plantago arenaria)
• sea plantain, seaside plantain (Plantago maritima)
• Virginia plantain (Plantago virginica)
• water plantain (Alisma spp.; Baldellia spp.; Sagittaria secundifolia)
• woolly plantain (Plantago patagonica)
• Wright's plantain (Plantago wrightiana)

 

Translations

small plant

• Arabic: لِسَان الْحَمَل m (lisān al-ḥamal), لِسَان الْخَرُوف m (lisān al-ḵarūf), ذَنَب الْفَأْر m (ḏanab al-faʔr)
• Armenian: եզան լեզու (hy) (ezan lezu), ջղախոտ (hy) (ǰġaxot)
• Azerbaijani: bağayarpağı (az)
• Basque: plantain
• Belarusian: трыпутнік m (tryputnik)
• Bulgarian: живо́вляк m (živóvljak)
• Catalan: plantatge (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 芣苢 (zh) (fóuyǐ), 車前草 / 车前草 (zh) (chēqiáncǎo), 車前 / 车前 (zh) (chēqián)

• Czech: jitrocel (cs) m
• Danish: vejbred c
• Dutch: weegbree (nl) m
• Finnish: ratamo (fi)
• French: plantain (fr) m
• Friulian: plantagn m
• Galician: chantaxe (gl) f
• Georgian: მრავალძარღვა (mravalʒarɣva)
• German: Wegerich (de) m
• Greek: πεντάνευρο n (pentánevro), αρνόγλωσσο n (arnóglosso)

  Ancient: θρυαλλίς f (thruallís)

• Hungarian: útifű (hu)
• Irish: naprún Phádraig m, cuach Phádraig m, cruach Phádraig f
• Italian: piantaggine (it) f
• Japanese: 車前草 (おおばこ, ōbako)
• Kazakh: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 질경이 (ko) (jilgyeong'i)
• Latin: plantāgō f
• Laz: მჯაღულეჯი (mcağuleci), ბალარძაღი (balarżaği)
• Lithuanian: gyslotis m
• Macedonian: тегавец m (tegavec)
• Maori: kaupārerarera, pārerarera, pakopako
• Middle English: planteyne, weybrede
• Mingrelian: ჯარღვალია (ǯarɣvalia)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: groblad n, kjempe (no) c

  Nynorsk: groblad n, kjempe f

• Occitan: plantatge m
• Old English: weġbrǣde f
• Ottoman Turkish: برباق (berbak)
• Polish: babka (pl) f
• Portuguese: plantago m, tanchagem (pt) f, tansagem f, transagem f
• Romanian: pătlagină (ro) f
• Russian: подоро́жник (ru) m (podoróžnik)
• Sanskrit: कदल (sa) m (kadala)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бо̏квица f, трпу́тац m

  Latin: bȍkvica (sh) f, trpútac (sh) m

• Slovak: skorocel m
• Slovene: trpȏtec m
• Spanish: llantén m
• Swedish: kämpar (sv) c (genus Plantago), groblad (sv) n (Plantago major), strandpryl c (Plantago uniflora)
• Turkish: sinirli yaprak, sinirli ot (tr), sinir otu (tr), bağa yaprağı, damar otu, damarlı ot
• Ukrainian: подоро́жник m (podoróžnyk)
• Venetan: piantazen f, piantaxene f
• Welsh: llyriad m

References

• Plantago on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Plantago on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Plantago on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Etymology 2

From Spanish plantano (obsolete variant of plátano), from Latin platanus, from Ancient Greek πλάτανος (plátanos).

plantain (Musa) fruit slices frying

Noun

plantain (plural plantains)

1. A plant in the genus Musa, the genus that includes banana, but with lower sugar content than banana.
2. The fruit of the plant, usually cooked before eating and used like potatoes.
   • 2002, Edith Grossman, transl., chapter 1, in Living to Tell the Tale, translation of Vivir para contarla by Gabriel García Márquez:

     We were sitting at the tables in the port, eating an unhurried breakfast of delicious mojarra fish from the swamp and slices of fried green plantain, when my mother resumed the offensive in her personal war.

Derived terms

• banana plantain
• bastard plantain (Heliconia spp.)
• bocadillo plantain
• cooking plantain
• French plantain (Musa × paradisiaca vars.)
• plantain cutter
• plantain eater (Musophagidae)
• plantain squirrel (Callosciurus notatus)
• plantain tree (Platanus spp.)
• true plantain (Musa × paradisiaca vars.)
• wild plantain (Heliconia spp.)

Translations

fruit

• Assamese: কাঁচকল (kãsokol)
• Burmese: ငှက်ပျော (my) (hngakpyau:)
• Catalan: plàtan de cuinar m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大蕉 (dàjiāo), 粉蕉 (fěnjiāo)

• Czech: zeleninový banán, plantain (cs)
• Dagbani: aboboi, ayaba, bɔrade
• Dutch: bakbanaan (nl)
• Edo: ọghẹdẹ
• Finnish: keittobanaani (fi), jauhobanaani (fi), ruokabanaani (fi)
• French: banane plantain (fr) f, (Africa) plantain (fr) f, (West Indies) banane farine f, banane cochon f, banane à cuire f
• German: Kochbanane (de) f, Gemüsebanane f, Mehlbanane f, Pisangfeige f
• Hausa: agade
• Irish: plantán m
• Japanese: バショウ属 (バショウぞく, bashō-zoku)
• Kannada: ಬಾಳೆಕಾಯಿ (bāḷekāyi)
• Lingala: likémba class 5/6
• Marathi: राजेळी केळ (rājeḷī keḷ)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kokebanan m, melbanan m, plantain m, spisebanan m

• Nupe: yàbàkó
• Polish: banan zwyczajny, banan właściwy, banan rajski, pizang, figa rajska, figa błogosławiona, muza (pl)
• Portuguese: banana-da-terra f, banana-comprida f, banana-pão f
• Spanish: (Mexico) plátano macho m, plátano (es) m
• Swedish: kokbanan c, mjölbanan c, pisang (sv), matbanan c
• Thai: กล้าย (th) (glâai)
• Yoruba: ọ̀gẹ̀dẹ̀, ọ̀gẹ̀dẹ̀ àgbagbà

References

• plantain on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Musa on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Musa on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• banana

Anagrams

• plainant

Basque

Etymology

Eventually from Latin plantaginem, accusative of plantago.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /plantai̯n/ [plãn̪.t̪ãĩ̯n]
• Rhymes: -antai̯n
• Hyphenation: plan‧tain

Noun

plantain inan

1. plantain

   Synonym: zain-belar

Declension

Declension of plantain (inanimate, ending in consonant)

	indefinite	singular	plural
absolutive	plantain	plantaina	plantainak
ergative	plantainek	plantainak	plantainek
dative	plantaini	plantainari	plantainei
genitive	plantainen	plantainaren	plantainen
comitative	plantainekin	plantainarekin	plantainekin
causative	plantainengatik	plantainarengatik	plantainengatik
benefactive	plantainentzat	plantainarentzat	plantainentzat
instrumental	plantainez	plantainaz	plantainez
inessive	plantainetan	plantainean	plantainetan
locative	plantainetako	plantaineko	plantainetako
allative	plantainetara	plantainera	plantainetara
terminative	plantainetaraino	plantaineraino	plantainetaraino
directive	plantainetarantz	plantainerantz	plantainetarantz
destinative	plantainetarako	plantainerako	plantainetarako
ablative	plantainetatik	plantainetik	plantainetatik
partitive	plantainik	—	—
prolative	plantaintzat	—	—

Further reading

• “plantain”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy], Euskaltzaindia
• “plantain”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /plɑ̃.tɛ̃/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old French plantain, from Latin plantāginem.

Noun

plantain m (plural plantains)

1. plantain, any plant of genus Plantago

Etymology 2

From banane plantain.

Noun

plantain m (plural plantains)

1. plantain (fruit of the genus Musa)

Further reading

• “plantain”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin plantāgō, plantāginem.

Noun

plantain oblique singular, m (oblique plural plantainz, nominative singular plantainz, nominative plural plantain)

1. plantain, any plant of genus Plantago

Descendants

• English: plantain
• French: plantain