Pea
/piΛ/noun
A small round seed eaten as a vegetable, or the plant that produces it.
Did you know?In Old English, the singular was *pise* and the plural was *pisan*; the modern word *pea* began as a mistaken back-formation from the plural, not as the original name.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*peis-
βto grind, crush, or pester; the reconstructed root behind terms for peas and pulse cropsβ
Latin
Latin
pisum
βpeaβ
Old English
English
pise
βpea; the plant or its seedβ
Old English
English
pisan
βpeasβ
Middle English
English
pease
βpeas, with the singular later reinterpreted from the pluralβ
Modern English
English
pea
βthe common singular form, created by back-formation from peaseβ