/ ˈplæntɪn; NAmE / noun
1.
[ C , U ] a fruit like a large banana , but less sweet, that is cooked and eaten as a vegetable
2.
[ C ] a wild plant with small green flowers and broad flat leaves that spread out close to the ground
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WORD ORIGIN
sense 2 late Middle English : from Old French , from Latin plantago , plantagin- , from planta sole of the foot (because of its broad prostrate leaves).
sense 1 mid 16th cent.: from Spanish plá(n)tano , probably by assimilation of a South American word to the Spanish plá(n)tano plane tree.