spinach

American  

[spin-ich] / ˈspɪn ɪtʃ /

noun

1. a plant, Spinacia oleracea, cultivated for its edible, crinkly or flat leaves.

2. the leaves.

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spinach British  

/ -ɪtʃ, ˈspɪnɪdʒ /

noun

1. a chenopodiaceous annual plant, Spinacia oleracea, cultivated for its dark green edible leaves

2. the leaves of this plant, eaten as a vegetable

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Other Word Forms

• spinachlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of spinach

First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English spinache, spinage, spinarch, from Anglo-French spinache, from Old French espinache, espinage, espinoche, from Medieval Latin spinargium, spinachium, spinarchium, ultimately from Arabic isfānākh, isfināj, perhaps from Persian isfānāj, ispānāk, aspānāk

Example Sentences

It’s like when parents get their children to eat spinach by hiding it inside pancakes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

It wiped out billions in agricultural crops, killing off whole fields of spinach in a half-day.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

At a time when diet pills are ubiquitous in Los Angeles, Puck joked that Tinseltown's famously weight-obsessed stars can have their Miyazaki beef "with Ozempic instead of spinach" if they prefer.

From Barron's • Mar. 11, 2026

Hiding vegetables in food is usually framed as a parenting tactic — a way to smuggle spinach past a suspicious toddler.

From Salon • Feb. 18, 2026

So far she’d suggested tacos, salmon with spinach, shepherd’s pie, and lasagna, and we’d gathered the ingredients for each.

From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson

Related Words

• blue-green
• olive