Adjacent Words

Lettuce definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LETTUCE, n. let'tis. [L. lactuca, according to Varro, from lac, milk.]
A genus of plants, the Lactuca, of many species, some of which are used as salads.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: informal terms for money [syn: boodle, bread, cabbage, clams, dinero, dough, gelt, kale, lettuce, lolly, lucre, loot, moolah, pelf, scratch, shekels, simoleons, sugar, wampum]
2: any of various plants of the genus Lactuca
3: leaves of any of various plants of Lactuca sativa

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English letuse, from Anglo-French letuse, probably from plural of letue lettuce plant, from Latin lactuca, from lact-, lac milk; from its milky juice — more at galaxy Date: 14th century any of a genus (Lactuca) of composite plants; especially a common garden vegetable (L. sativa) whose succulent leaves are used especially in salads

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a composite plant, Lactuca sativa, with crisp edible leaves used in salads. 2 any of various plants resembling this. Etymology: ME letus(e), rel. to OF laitu{euml} f. L lactuca f. lac lactis milk, with ref. to its milky juice

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lettuce Let"tuce (l[e^]t"t[i^]s), n. [OE. letuce, prob. through Old French from some Late Latin derivative of L. lactuca lettuce, which, according to Varro, is fr. lac, lactis, milk, on account of the milky white juice which flows from it when it is cut: cf. F. laitue. Cf. Lacteal, Lactucic.] (Bot.) A composite plant of the genus Lactuca (L. sativa), the leaves of which are used as salad. Plants of this genus yield a milky juice, from which lactucarium is obtained. The commonest wild lettuce of the United States is L. Canadensis. Hare's lettuce, Lamb's lettuce. See under Hare, and Lamb. Lettuce opium. See Lactucarium. Sea lettuce, certain papery green seaweeds of the genus Ulva.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(lettuces) A lettuce is a plant with large green leaves that is the basic ingredient of many salads. N-VAR