legume

IPA/ˈleɡjuːm/
KK[lˈɛɡjˌum]IPA/ˈleɡjuːm/

legume — noun

  • legumesingular
  • legumesplural

1. a kind of plant whose seeds grow inside long cases called pods — for example, pe

1.nounC1
Definition

a kind of plant whose seeds grow inside long cases called pods — for example, peas, beans, lentils, and clover all belong to this group.

Example

Quan's grandmother grows several legumes in her vegetable garden every spring.

countable: a legume / legumes (the plant)

Farmers often plant a legume after wheat because it puts nitrogen back into the soil.

typical agricultural context: rotating a legume with cereal crops

Common collocations
  • plant a legume
  • grow legumes
  • rotate legumes with cereals
Synonyms
  • pulse crop

    narrower — refers mainly to legumes grown for dried seeds (beans, lentils, chickpeas)

  • leguminous plant

    formal/scientific term, common in textbooks

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 2: this sense names the living plant, while sense 2 names the pod or seed people eat. A sentence about growing, planting, or rotating crops takes sense 1; a sentence about cooking, eating, or buying dried beans takes sense 2.

Common Mistakes

I bought a bag of legumes at the farm to plant in my garden.
I bought a bag of legume seeds at the farm to plant in my garden.
sense 1 is the whole growing plant, not the seed you sow.

2. the pod, or the dry seed inside the pod, of a plant such as a bean, pea, or lent

2.nounC1
Definition

the pod, or the dry seed inside the pod, of a plant such as a bean, pea, or lentil — usually cooked and eaten as food.

Example

Esme adds legumes such as lentils and chickpeas to almost every soup she makes.

typical food register: legumes as a healthy ingredient

Doctors often tell patients to eat more legumes instead of red meat.

collocation: eat / eating more legumes (health advice context)

Common collocations
  • eat legumes
  • cook legumes
  • soak dried legumes
Synonyms
  • pulse

    British/agricultural term, refers specifically to the dried edible seed (lentils, dry peas, beans)

  • bean

    common everyday word; covers many but not all legumes

Usage Note

Subject is usually a person preparing or eating food, or the noun appears as the object of verbs like eat, cook, soak, or boil. Distinguish from sense 1 (the living plant): if you can substitute 'beans and lentils' naturally, you are in sense 2.

Common Mistakes

She watered the legumes in the kitchen.
She watered the legume plants in the kitchen.
once the seeds are picked or dried, you no longer water them; use 'legume plants' for sense 1.

Word family

  • leguminous
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

All three words describe edible seeds from the same plant family, but their scope and register differ. 'Bean' is the everyday, kitchen-table word — anyone uses it for kidney beans, black beans, or green beans on a plate. 'Legume' is the broader, semi-technical umbrella term that scientists, nutritionists, and food writers prefer; it covers beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas, peanuts, and even the plants themselves. 'Pulse' is narrower than 'legume' and more common in British English and agriculture — it names only the dried edible seed (dry beans, lentils, split peas), so a fresh green bean is not normally a pulse. A health article might say 'eat more legumes'; a recipe writer says 'soak the pulses overnight'; a child at dinner just says 'I don't like beans.'

legume ↗pulse ↗bean ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • legume seed
  • legume crop
  • legume plant

Phrases

  • a member of the legume family
  • rich in legumes

Prepositions

  • of the legume family
  • in the legume group

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Borrowed into English in the late 1600s from French 'légume' (vegetable), which came from Latin 'legumen' meaning 'pulse, bean'. The Latin word is usually traced to 'legere' ('to gather, pick'), because beans and peas were among the crops people gathered by hand. The everyday French sense still means 'vegetable' in general, but English narrowed the meaning to the pea-and-bean family.