Faba
/ˈfeɪ.bə/noun
A botanical name for the broad-bean genus, and a Latin-derived term meaning “bean.”
Did you know?In ancient Rome, beans were linked with the Lemuria festival, when families symbolically used black beans to appease restless ancestral spirits.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bhabhā
“A reconstructed word for a bean or similar legume.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
phakós
“A lentil or lens-shaped seed; probably related to the wider Indo-European bean vocabulary.”
Classical Latin
Latin
faba
“A bean, especially the broad bean.”
Medieval Latin
Latin
faba
“Bean; retained in botanical and scholarly writing.”
14th–16th Century
Italian/French
fava / fève
“Bean; descendants of Latin faba that entered European vernaculars.”
Modern English
English
faba
“A botanical genus name and Latin-based term associated with the broad bean.”