Pl. legumens, ǁ legumina. [a. L. legūmen: see prec.] a. = LEGUME 1 a. b. = LEGUME 2. Also collect. sing. c. = LEGUME 3.
a. 1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVII. xcv. (1495), 662. Greynes that ben … gretter … thanne greynes of whete other of barly be properly callyd legumina.
1680. Boyle, Produc. Chem. Princ., II. iv. Some legumens, as peas, or beans; which if they be newly gathered and distilled in a retort … will … afford … an acid spirit.
1721. Chamberlayne, in Phil. Trans., XXXI. 200. These Vessels … are more easy to be discover’d in Beans and Pease, than in any sort of Legumens or Grains.
b. 1675. Evelyn, Terra (1676), 71. The haulm of beans, pease, and other legumina.
a. 1722. Lisle, Husb. (1757), 354. Grass-butter rises in price by reason of its consumption of those legumens.
1727. A. Hamilton, New Acc. E. Ind., I. vi. 54. The Country adjacent produces Barley, Wheat, and Legumen.
1789. G. White, Selborne, xxxiv. (1853), 123. They are to be met with in gardens on kidney-beans or any legumens.
c. 1760. J. Lee, Introd. Bot., I. vi. (1765), 13. Legumen, a Pod … is a Pericarpium of two Valves, wherein the seeds are fastened along one suture only.
1776–96. Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), III. 619. Lotus. Legumen cylindrical; filled with cylindrical seeds.
1832. Veg. Subst. Food Man, 211. The seeds are contained in an oblong legumen, or pod … of two valves.
