plan|tain

plan|tain¹ «PLAN tuhn», noun.

1. a treelike, tropical, herbaceous plant closely related to the banana.

2. its fruit, longer and more starchy than the banana, and usually eaten cooked. It is one of the chief articles of food in tropical countries.

╂[< Spanish plátano, learned borrowing from Latin platanus < Greek plátanos < platýs broad (because of the shape of its leaf). See etym. of doublet plane³. (Cf. ↑plane)]

plan|tain² «PLAN tuhn», noun.

1. a common weed with broad, flat leaves spread out close to the ground, and long, slender spikes carrying seeds and tiny greenish flowers.

2. any of several related herbs.

╂[< Old French plantain < Vulgar Latin plantanus < Latin plantāgo, -inis < planta sole of the foot (because of its flat leaves)]