SPINACH

noun Etymology: Middle English ~e, from Anglo-French, alteration of Old French espinaces, from Medieval Latin ~ium, ultimately from Arabic isfānākh, from Persian Date: 15th century an Asian herb ( Spinacia oleracea ) of the goosefoot family cultivated for its edible leaves which form in a dense basal rosette, 2. something unwanted, pretentious, or spurious, an untidy overgrowth, ~like adjective ~y adjective