Vicia faba
- noun
- Specialized
:
haba
- The seeds produced by Vicia faba are a staple ingredient in many traditional dishes.
Examples
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Farmers often plant Vicia faba to improve soil fertility through nitrogen fixation.
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I planted Vicia faba seeds in my garden.
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Vicia faba is widely cultivated in Mediterranean countries for its nutritious beans.
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Farmers often grow Vicia fabas as a cover crop.
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In the garden, she harvested several pods of Vicia faba to make a delicious bean dip.
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Farmers often grow Vicia faba because it enriches the soil and provides feed for livestock.
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Cooking with Vicia faba is popular in Mediterranean cuisines, especially in soups and salads.
Synonyms
An upright plant grown for its large flat edible seeds and food for animals
A garden plant grown for its large flat beans that people or animals eat
A large flat bean that people cook and eat, also called fava
A tall plant grown for large flat seeds eaten by people and fed to animals
A plant from Europe that produces large flat seeds eaten by people and fed to animals
A type of broad bean grown to feed animals
Surface Forms
Morphology
Vicia + faba
This is a Latin binomial (scientific name) rather than a compositional English phrase: 'Vicia' is a genus name and 'faba' is not a standard English lexical item, so a B1 learner who knows the parts would not be able to derive the common meaning 'broad bean'. The label is taxonomic and conventional, not semantically transparent or productive in the way everyday English MWEs are, so its meaning is unpredictable from the constituents.
Etymology
Vicia faba comes from Latin words: Vicia meaning a wild plant like a small 'pea' and faba meaning 'bean'. So the name simply points to the broad or fava 'bean' plant that is grown for its large flat seeds.
