spinach

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: spin=ach

CIDE DICTIONARY

spinach, n. [OF. espinache, espinoche, F. épinard; cf. F. spinace, Sp. espinaca; all fr. Ar. isfānāj, isfināj, aspanākh, probably of Persian origin.].

 A common pot herb (Spinacia oleracea) belonging to the Goosefoot family.  [1913 Webster]
" Various other pot herbs are locally called spinach."  [1913 Webster]

Mountain spinach. See Garden orache, under Orache. -- New Zealand spinach (Bot.), a coarse herb (Tetragonia expansa), a poor substitute for spinach.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

spinach, n.
1 a green garden vegetable, Spinacia oleracea, with succulent leaves.
2 the leaves of this plant used as food.

Idiom

spinach beet a variety of beetroot cultivated for its edible leaves.

Derivative

spinaceous adj. spinachy adj.

Etymology

prob. MDu. spinaetse, spinag(i)e, f. OF espinage, espinache f. med.L spinac(h)ia etc. f. Arab. ' isfanak f. Pers. ispanak: perh. assim. to L spina SPINE, with ref. to its prickly seeds