plantain Definition

plantain¹
noun

1. A plant belonging to the banana family, widely cultivated in humid tropical regions for its edible fruit.
2. The green-skinned banana-like edible fruit of this plant, which has a high starch content when ripe and can be cooked and eaten as a vegetable.

Etymology: 16c: from Spanish plátano.

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plantain²
noun

1. Any of numerous northern temperate plants with a basal rosette of narrow lance-shaped to broadly oval leaves and an erect spike of small tightly-clustered flowers.

Etymology: 14c: from Latin plantago, from planta sole of the foot (referring to the shape of the leaf).