Vetch
/vɛtʃ/noun
A climbing or trailing leguminous plant, often grown as fodder or a cover crop.
Did you know?Vetch ultimately traces back to Latin *vicia*, and that old plant-name is linked to a deep Indo-European root that also gave English words like *vein* and *veggie*—proof that everyday plant words often carry thousands of years of linguistic drift.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*weǵʰ-
“To carry, convey, or transport”
Latin
Latin
vīcia
“A vetch or tare, a leguminous plant”
Old French
Old French
veche
“Vetch; tare”
Middle English
English
veche
“Vetch, a fodder plant”
Modern English
English
vetch
“A climbing or trailing leguminous plant”