Lentile

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small, flat, lens-shaped seed of a bushy legume plant, widely eaten as a pulse in soups, stews and salads
2. The dried seed of a Mediterranean-origin legume, shaped like a tiny disc and cooked as a hearty protein-rich food
3. An archaic spelling for a small disc-shaped pulse seed from a leguminous plant that is boiled or ground for food

Etymology: The seed is named for its shape. Latin "lens" meant the lentil plant, and "lenticula," a diminutive of "lens," was used for the small, flat, lens-shaped seed. Old French turned that into "lentille," and English borrowed it, first as "lentile," the spelling this form preserves, before the spelling settled into "lentil." The link to optics is the same shape. Glass shaped like a lentil seed, convex on both sides, was called a "lens" in Latin, so the seed's name passed to the glass. A small disc of food and a magnifying or focusing glass share a root because both are biconvex and roughly round.