lentil

plural lentils

1. Any of several plants of the genus Lens, especially Lens culinaris, from southwest Asia, that have edible, lens-shaped seeds within flattened pods.
2. The seed of these plants, used as food.

   a lentil salad

   4 more examples

   make a lentil stew

   In ancient Greece, lentils were believed to stimulate desire.

   1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 136

   A couple of vegetables, sambar (spicy and sour lentils and vegetables boiled with masalas and spices), rasam (a hot and fiery lentil soup-like dish) and curds (yoghurt) served with heaps of rice and eaten in that order. A non-vegetarian version of the “meals” can be found in “Military” hotels.

   2017 July 12, Sanjiv Khamgaonkar, “40 Mumbai foods we can’t live without”, in CNN

   Wild nuts, peas, vetch, a legume which had edible seed pods, and grasses were often combined with pulses like beans or lentils, the most commonly identified ingredient, and at times, wild mustard. To make the plants more palatable, pulses, which have a naturally bitter taste, were soaked, coarsely ground or pounded with stones to remove their husk.

   2022 November 22, Katie Hunt, “Neanderthals cooked meals with pulses 70,000 years ago”, in CNN

3. A small chocolate candy in an edible shell.

   An enhanced focus on the brand's iconic color palette and the use of different shapes and sizes of M&M'S lentils across all touchpoints to prove that all together, we're more fun

   2022 January 20, Mars Corporation, “Iconic M&M'S® Brand Announces Global Commitment to Creating A World Where Everyone Feels They Belong”, in PR Newswire, retrieved 17 Sep 2025

   Synonyms: dragée