legume family
1
3.6
- noun
- /ˈlɛɡjuːm ˈfæmɪli/
- Specialized
:
familia de leguminosas
- Flowers from the legume family, like those of the soybean plant, enrich the soil with nitrogen.
- a member of the legume family
Examples
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The peanut is a well-known plant in the legume family that is commonly used in cooking.
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However, this is not really one of the types of fruits at all, but a tropical treat of the legume family.
Blog text (26) -
Spanish oak in Barbados is not an oak at all, but a leathery-leaved member of the legume family.
Academic text (1995) -
IT'S A MEMBER OF THE LEGUME FAMILY.
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In addition, Southern peas are members of the legume family (Fabaceae) and can obtain nitrogen from the air through nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in the soil and their roots.
Blog text (22) -
Lentils, which belong to the legume family, provide a healthy source of protein.
Synonyms
1
8.9
A family of flowering plants like peas and beans that make seed pods
1
4.1
A group of plants that grow bean pods like peas and beans
A large group of plants like beans or peas that have pods with seeds
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a family of plants that are legumes' is directly compositional from 'legume' (a type of plant/seed) + 'family' (a grouping of related species), so a learner who knows both words can infer the MWE meaning. This noun + family pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard scientific naming conventions, making it easily understandable to B1 learners familiar with the constituents.
Etymology
Legume family comes from legume, a word for plants that make bean or pea pods, and family, a group of related things; imagine many plants that all grow little bean-filled pods and belong together. So, legume family means a group of plants like 'beans and peas' that make pods and often help the soil.