Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A widely cultivated southwest Asian plant (Spinacia oleracea) having succulent edible leaves.
- n. The leaves of this plant, eaten as a vegetable.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A chenopodiaceous garden vegetable of the genus Spinacia, producing thick succulent leaves, which, when boiled and seasoned, form a pleasant and wholesome, though not highly flavored dish. There is commonly said to be but a single species, S. oleracea; but S. glabra, usually regarded as a variety, is now recognized as distinct, while there are two other wild species. The leaves of S. oleracea are sagittate, undivided, and prickly; those of S. glabra are larger, rounded at the base, and smooth. These are respectively the prickly-leaved and round-leaved spinach, There are several cultivated varieties of each, one of which, with wrinkled leaves like a Savoy cabbage, is the Savoy or lettuce-leaved spinach. All the species are Asiatic; the cultivated plant was first introduced into Europe by the Arabs by way of Spain.
- n. One of several other plants affording a dish like spinach. See phrases below.
Wiktionary
- n. A particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea.
- n. Any of numerous plants which are used for greens in the same way spinach is.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) A common pot herb (Spinacia oleracea) belonging to the Goosefoot family.
WordNet 3.0
- n. southwestern Asian plant widely cultivated for its succulent edible dark green leaves
- n. dark green leaves; eaten cooked or raw in salads
Etymologies
- Via Arabic اسفاناخ (isfānākh), from Persian اسپناخ (ispanākh). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old French espinache, from Medieval Latin spināchium, from Arabic 'isfānāḫ, from Persian espenāj, espenākh. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“When all the spinach is added, cook until still bright green but fully cooked (taste if there's any question).”
“Just cut a stick of feta, cover it in spinach (I thawed whole leaf spinach from my freezer – if you use fresh parboil them so they wilt and press out the water), then roll the feta-spinach roll up in the dough triangle.”
“We looked in on the chickens, fed the koi, walked the perimeter of the deer fence to make sure there were no breaks in it anywhere (it keeps the deer out of the garden, where the spinach is just starting to sprout).”
“Frozen spinach is NOT a good thing in this recipe.”
“Maria, because the spinach is cooked so quickly, it keeps it's lovely color.”
Recipes for Spinach Skordalia & Crispy Salmon Fingers (Σκορδαλιά με Σπανάκι & Σολομός Τηγανητός)
“The tender Malabar spinach is still setting fleshy pink flowers, and the castor bean plant, towering, mesmerizing and deadly poisonous, displays its layers of purple leaves the size of a blacksmith's hand.”
“The only thing that I hate more intensely than melodrama and spinach is myself.”
The Guardian: Saul Bellow's widow on his life and letters: 'His gift was to love and be loved'
“True spinach is (like peas) one of those vegetables which depend on the man-from-Del-Monte moment.”
“Bright green spinach is folded into mildly spiced yogurt.”
“In bad news though, the growing box for the spinach is not as well ventilated – the dirt in it was molding.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘spinach’.
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Of Arabic Origin
Arabic loanwords in English are words acquired directly from Arabic or else indirectly by passing from Arabic into other languages and then into English. Most entered one or more of the Romance lan...
admiral, adobe, albatross, alchemy, alcohol, alcove, alembic, alfalfa, algebra, algorism, algorithm, alidade and 181 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
veal, valve, used, yak, wax, wan, teak, vat, vas, strip, use, strap and 4515 more...
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Open List: Greens
A lits of greens: cooked leafy vegetables; pigments, paint names, compound words, etc; words and phrases that pertain to or contain "green". Please add your favorites!
See this list f...greenery, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, green shoots, viridian green, malachite green, sap green, green grocer, radish greens, beet greens, spring green and 282 more...
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food collection
bread, peel, pot, chorizo, Filet, olive, fill, Phyllo, dough, bake, mat, pinot and 988 more...
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Gesundheit
Words that sound like sneezes
zucchini, zoology, wysiwyg, woodchuck, withhold, wichita, vacuum, twelfth, syzygy, synchronous, swatch, supersede and 120 more...
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vegan
vegan food list of basic vegan food or types of vegan food you've had and liked.
( food, cuisine, eating, health, vegan, vegetarian, animal rights, anti-cruelty, no meat, herbivore, s...tofu, hummus, falafel, cookie, soy, nuts, fruit, burrito, veggie burger, soy cheese, rice, pasta and 52 more...
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Foodie
As much fun to say as they are to eat.
blueberry, cider, almond, apricot, asparagus, banana, fudge, foldover, flapjacks, filbert, fig, biscuit and 217 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Groceries
strawberries, baby spinach, black beans, cinnamon, oranges, apples, fstg multigrain t..., olive oil, simply orange juice, tomato sauce, wholly guacamole, salt sense and 115 more...
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The O.U.P. Junior Dictionary Death Row
Another news story about words being removed from a dictionary before their time. See also the list of words added to the dictionary.
carol, cracker, holly, ivy, mistletoe, dwarf, elf, goblin, abbey, aisle, altar, bishop and 137 more...
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jagosaurus's favorites
Words I like mostly because of the way they sound and feel.
ticonderoga, petulance, snark, estimable, chickahominy, feline, gezellig, gneiss, shit, willy-nilly, shelter, coda and 366 more...
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spoon
being items relating to food, cooking and the kitchen.
spoon, fork, beef, slice, dozen, eggs, simmer, broil, salad, soup, stock, lard and 287 more...
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mandarine's Words
antepenultimate, metonymy, synecdoche, pop, kern, inherit, clique, scrumptious, macerate, murmur, kerning, veranda and 1068 more...
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food
food, chef, spice, salt, sugar, pumpkin, apples, fruit, vegetable, savory, soup, sauce and 280 more...
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A few of my favorite definitions from...
I'm especially fond of ones written by Charles Sanders Peirce.
theodolite, illusion, buckie, frank, abstract-concrete, semidiagrammatic, object-object, vortex-filament, dod, parrock, cobler, weather-box and 354 more...
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encyclopedia gustatorica
béchamel, tart, pie, cupcake, roux, jambalaya, étouffé, succulent, plum, pomegranate, peach, apple and 300 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for spinach.
yarb If they're so succulent, why do they require seasoning and boiling??
Heads need to roll over this one. Jul 1, 2011
ruzuzu I'm not sure whether CSP worked on this one. I just went to the Peirce Edition Project's site and saw spin, spindle-curve, and Spinozism, but no spinach. Jun 30, 2011
yarb CSP always struck me as a meat-and-potatoes man. Jun 30, 2011
ruzuzu I love this definition from the Century: "1. A chenopodiaceous garden vegetable of the genus Spinacia, producing thick succulent leaves, which, when boiled and seasoned, form a pleasant and wholesome, though not highly flavored dish." Jun 30, 2011
fbharjo Etymology: Middle French espinache, espinage, from Old Spanish espinaca, from Arabic isbnakh, isfinaakh, from Persian aspanakh. Aug 31, 2009
whichbe Popular food among Public Relations executives and Popeye. Dec 2, 2008