# spinach

Pronunciation: say "SPIN-ich" /ˈspɪnɪt͡ʃ/

## Noun

1. An edible plant, Spinacia oleracea, grown for its dark green leaves, which are eaten cooked or raw.
   - Simple: A leafy green vegetable with dark, soft leaves that people cook or eat raw in salads.
   - _She sautéed the spinach with garlic and a little olive oil._
   - _Fresh spinach wilts quickly once it has been picked._
2. Any of numerous plants, or their leaves, that are used for greens in the same way as true spinach or that resemble it.
   - Simple: Any of many leafy plants cooked and eaten like true spinach, or that look similar to it.
   - _Farmers in the tropics often plant water spinach along flooded ditches._
   - _Malabar spinach climbs trellises and produces edible leaves all summer._

## Origin

It came through Middle English and Anglo-Norman from Old French espinoche and Old Occitan espinarc, ultimately from Arabic إِسْفَانَاخ (ʔisfānāḵ), which in turn came from Classical Persian اسپناخ (ispanāx).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/spinach (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).