Etymology

romaine lettuce

Today it means: A long-leaved variety of lettuce, Lactuca sativa var. longifolia. Full definition →

French laitue romaine
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The story

  1. French · calque oflaitue romaine“Roman lettuce”
  2. English todayromaine lettuce

A partial calque of French laitue romaine (“Roman lettuce”), from its supposed association with Rome.

Words from the same roots

Frenchlaitue romaine all →

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.