pease
Definition
- Noun (archaic or dialectal):
- Peas collectively: "pease" is an old or dialectal form of "peas," referring to the edible seeds of the pea plant (Pisum sativum), often used as a plural noun. It can also refer to a single pea in some historical contexts.
- Historical usage: In Middle English, "pease" was the singular form, with "peasen" as the plural; modern English uses "pea" for singular and "peas" for plural.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- They ate a bowl of pease porridge for dinner. (A traditional dish made from peas.)
- The farmer harvested the pease from the field. (The peas collectively.)
- One pease fell from the pod. (A single pea, in historical or dialectal context.)
Advanced Usage
"Pease porridge": a historical dish of boiled peas, often eaten as a staple food.
- Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold, pease porridge in the pot nine days old. (From a traditional nursery rhyme.)
"Pease pudding": a dish of boiled peas mashed into a paste, common in British cuisine.
- He spread pease pudding on his bread for lunch. (A savoury spread made from peas.)
Variants and Related Words
- Pea (n): the modern singular form for the edible seed.
- She shelled a pea from the pod. (A single seed.)
- Peas (n): the modern plural form.
- We had peas with our roast chicken. (Multiple edible seeds.)
- Peasecod (n, archaic): a pea pod.
- The child opened a peasecod to find the peas inside. (The pod containing peas.)
Synonyms
- Legume: a broader term for plants in the Fabaceae family, including peas.
- Pulse: edible seeds of leguminous plants, such as peas, lentils, and beans.
Related Idioms
- "Pease in a pod": an archaic version of the idiom "peas in a pod," meaning very similar.
- The twins were like pease in a pod. (They were nearly identical.)
Historical Note
- In Middle English, "pease" was the singular form (e.g., "one pease"), and "peasen" was the plural. By the 17th century, "pease" was reinterpreted as a plural, leading to the modern singular "pea" (by back-formation) and plural "peas." The word "pease" survives in fixed expressions and dialectal usage.