Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Bean
Bean
(bēn)
, Noun.
[OE.
bene
, AS. beán
; akin to D. boon
, G. bohne
, OHG. pōna
, Icel. baun
, Dan. bönne
, Sw. böna
, and perh. to Russ. bob
, L. faba
.] 1.
(Bot.)
A name given to the seed of certain leguminous herbs, chiefly of the genera
Faba
, Phaseolus
, and Dolichos
; also, to the herbs. ☞ The origin and classification of many kinds are still doubtful. Among true beans are: the black-eyed bean and China bean, included in
As an article of food beans are classed with vegetables.Dolichos Sinensis
; black Egyptian bean or hyacinth bean, Dolichos Lablab
; the common haricot beans, kidney beans, string beans, and pole beans, all included in Phaseolus vulgaris
; the lower bush bean, Phaseolus vulgaris
, variety nanus
; Lima bean, Phaseolus lunatus
; Spanish bean and scarlet runner, Phaseolus multiflorus
; Windsor bean, the common bean of England, Faba vulgaris
. 2.
The popular name of other vegetable seeds or fruits, more or less resembling true beans.
Bean aphis
(Zool.)
, a plant louse (
– Aphis fabæ
) which infests the bean plant. Bean fly
(Zool.)
, a fly found on bean flowers.
– Bean goose
(Zool.)
, a species of goose (
– Anser segetum
). Bean weevil
(Zool.)
, a small weevil that in the larval state destroys beans. The American species is
– Bruchus fabæ
. Florida bean
(Bot.)
, the seed of
– Mucuna urens
, a West Indian plant. The seeds are washed up on the Florida shore, and are often polished and made into ornaments. Ignatius bean
, or
St. Ignatius’s bean
(Bot.)
, a species of
– Strychnos
. Navy bean
, the common dried white bean of commerce; probably so called because an important article of food in the navy.
– Pea bean
, a very small and highly esteemed variety of the edible white bean; – so called from its size.
– Sacred bean
. See under
– Sacred
. Screw bean
. See under
– Screw
. Sea bean
. (a)
Same as
Florida bean
. (b)
A red bean of unknown species used for ornament.
– Tonquin bean
, or Tonka bean
the fragrant seed of
– Dipteryx odorata
, a leguminous tree. Vanilla bean
. See under
Vanilla
.Webster 1828 Edition
Bean
BEAN
,Noun.
Malacca-beans. Anacardia, the fruit of a tree growing in Malabar, and other parts of the Indies. This fruit is of a shining black color, of the shape of a heart flattened, about an inch long, terminating at one end in an obtuse point, and at the other, adhering to a wrinkles stalk. In contains, within two shells, a kernel of a sweetish taste; and betwixt the shells is lodged a thick acrid juice.