pea

pea
\ \ [17] Pea is the mirror-image of dice. Dice started off as the plural of die, but has become a singular form; the singular form of pea was originally pease, but it came to be regarded as plural, and so a new singular pea was created.
\ \ The word was originally acquired in the Old English period from Latin pisa, which in turn got it from Greek píson. The old singular form survives in pease pudding. Relatives of the word include French pois, Italian pisello, and Welsh pysen.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Pea — Pea, n.; pl. {Peas}or {Pease}. [OE. pese, fr. AS. pisa, or OF. peis, F. pois; both fr. L. pisum; cf. Gr. ?, ?. The final s was misunderstood in English as a plural ending. Cf. {Pease}.] 1. (Bot.) A plant, and its fruit, of the genus {Pisum}, of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • PEA — or some variant therein can refer to: Pea plant Pea (song), on the Red Hot Chili Peppers album One Hot Minute Pea galaxy or Green Pea , type of galaxy that appears green Pea River, Alabama, USA PEA can be an abbreviation for: In biochemistry… …   Wikipedia

  • PEA — ist die Abkürzung für: Phenylethylamin, als beta Phenylethylamin einer der Hauptwirkstoffe von Schokolade N Palmitoylethanolamin, ein Endocannabinoid mit antioxidativer Wirkung pulslose elektrische Aktivität, einem Synonym für elektromechanische… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • pea — [pē] n. pl. peas [back form. < ME pese, pees, a pea, taken as pl. < OE pise < LL pisa < L, pl. of pisum, a pea < Gr pison, a pea] 1. an annual, tendril climbing plant (Pisum sativum) of the pea family, with white or pinkish flowers …   English World dictionary

  • pea — 17c., false singular from M.E. pease (pl. pesen), which was both single and collective (e.g. wheat, corn) but was mistaken for a plural, from O.E. pise (W.Saxon), piose (Mercian) pea, from L.L. pisa, variant of L. pisum pea, from Gk. pison,… …   Etymology dictionary

  • pea — [ pi ] noun count * a very small round green vegetable that grows in a long narrow POD a. a climbing plant whose seeds are peas like two peas in a pod INFORMAL used for saying that two people look, behave, or think exactly the same => SPLIT… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Pea — Pea, n. [OF. peis. See {Poise}.] The sliding weight on a steelyard. [Written also {pee}.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Pea — Pea, n. (Naut.) See {Peak}, n., 3. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • pea — [pi:] n [Date: 1600 1700; Origin: pease pea (11 19 centuries) (mistaken as plural), from Latin pisa, plural of pisum, from Greek pison] 1.) a round green seed that is cooked and eaten as a vegetable, or the plant on which these seeds grow ▪ roast …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • pea — ► NOUN 1) a spherical green seed eaten as a vegetable. 2) the climbing leguminous plant which has pods containing peas. ORIGIN from PEASE(Cf. ↑pease), which was interpreted as being plural but in fact meant «pea» in Old English; from Greek pison …   English terms dictionary

  • Pea — Pea, bei den Birmanen, so v.w. Tempel …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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