plantain

noun

1. Any plant of the genus Plantago, with a rosette of sessile leaves about 10 cm (4") long with a narrow part instead of a petiole, and with a spike inflorescence with the flower spacing varying widely among the species. See also psyllium.

   “The roots of Plantain and Pellitory of Spain beaten to powder and put into hollow teeth, takes away the pains of them.”

   “The paths too are overgrown, but easily identified by the presence on them of round-leaved plantains.”

2. A plant in the genus Musa, the genus that includes banana, but with lower sugar content than banana.
3. The fruit of the plant, usually cooked before eating and used like potatoes.

   “We were sitting at the tables in the port, eating an unhurried breakfast of delicious mojarra fish from the swamp and slices of fried green plantain, when my mother resumed the offensive in her personal war.”

   “She uses broccoli rabe instead of aka takana (spicy mustard greens), shops in the Caribbean markets of her Washington Heights neighborhood for batatas rather than Japanese satsumaimo (yellow sweet potatoes), and has learned to love the local mofongo, the Dominican version of mashed plantains with lots of garlic.”