Meanings
nounlettuce (countable and uncountable, plural lettuces)
plural lettuces
- uncountablefoodThe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable; as a dish often mixed with other ingredients, dressing etc.
I’ll have a ham sandwich with lettuce and tomato.
- USslanguncountableUnited States paper currency; dollars.
Twenty dollars an hour? That's a lot of lettuce!
1 more example
To steady himself he counts the money left in his wallet. Seventy-three; today was payday. Fingering so much lettuce strengthens his nerves.
1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 26Synonyms: cabbage, greenbacks
- slanguncountableMarijuana.
- slanguncountableLong, curly hair, as worn by followers of bro culture.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn edible plant, Lactuca sativa and its close relatives, having a head of green or purple leaves.
Similar
nounUnited States paper currency; dollars.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
nouninformal terms for money
Similar
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishlēahtric
- Latinlactūca“lettuce”
- Old Frenchlaitues
- Middle Englishletuse
- Englishlettuce
From Middle English letuse, of uncertain precise origin, probably from the plural form Old French laitues, derived from Latin lactūca (“lettuce”), from lac (“milk”), because of the milky fluid in its stalks. Replaced Old English lēahtric. (money): Likely from the green color of US banknotes.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans blaarslaai, kropslaai
- blaarslaaian edible plant, Lactuca
- kropslaaian edible plant, Lactuca
Ancient Greek θρίδαξ, θρῖδαξ
- θρίδαξ (thrídax)an edible plant, Lactuca
- θρῖδαξ (thrîdax)the leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Arabic خَسّ, خَسّ
- خَسّ (ḵass)an edible plant, Lactuca
- خَسّ (ḵass)the leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Basque uraza
- urazaan edible plant, Lactuca
Bengali লেটুস
- লেটুস (leṭus)an edible plant, Lactuca
Bulgarian мару́ля, книжни пари
- мару́ля (marúlja)an edible plant, Lactuca
- книжни пари (knižni pari)US paper currency
Catalan enciam, lletuga
- enciaman edible plant, Lactuca
- lletugaan edible plant, Lactuca
Chinese Cantonese 生菜, 生菜
- 生菜 (saang¹ coi³)an edible plant, Lactuca
- 生菜 (saang¹ coi³)the leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Chinese Mandarin 萵苣 /莴苣, 生菜
- 萵苣 /莴苣 (wōjù)an edible plant, Lactuca
- 生菜 (shēngcài)the leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Czech hlávkový salát, hlávkový salát
- hlávkový salátan edible plant, Lactuca
- hlávkový salátthe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Danish salat
- salatan edible plant, Lactuca
Dutch sla, salade
- slaan edible plant, Lactuca
- saladean edible plant, Lactuca
- slaplantan edible plant, Lactuca
- slaatjethe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
- saladethe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
- flappenUS paper currency
Esperanto laktuko, laktuko
- laktukoan edible plant, Lactuca
- laktukothe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Estonian aedsalat
- aedsalatan edible plant, Lactuca
Finnish lehtisalaatti, salaatinlehti
- lehtisalaattian edible plant, Lactuca
- salaatinlehtithe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
- salaattithe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
- lehtisalaattithe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
French laitue, salade
- laituean edible plant, Lactuca
- saladethe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
- oseilleUS paper currency
German Gartensalat, Salat
- Gartensalatan edible plant, Lactuca
- Salatan edible plant, Lactuca
- Lattichan edible plant, Lactuca
- Salatthe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Greek μαρούλι, μαρούλι
- μαρούλι (maroúli)an edible plant, Lactuca
- μαρούλι (maroúli)the leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
- λεφτά (leftá)US paper currency
- χρήματα (chrímata)US paper currency
Hawaiian lekuke
- lekukean edible plant, Lactuca
Hebrew חַסָּה, חסה
- חַסָּה (khása)an edible plant, Lactuca
- חסה (hasa)the leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Hindi लेटिष, सलाद पत्ता
- लेटिष (leṭiṣ)an edible plant, Lactuca
- सलाद पत्ता (salād pattā)an edible plant, Lactuca
Hungarian saláta, fejes saláta
- salátaan edible plant, Lactuca
- fejes salátaan edible plant, Lactuca
- salátathe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Icelandic salat
- salatan edible plant, Lactuca
Indonesian selada
- seladaan edible plant, Lactuca
Irish leitís
- leitísan edible plant, Lactuca
Italian lattuga
- lattugaan edible plant, Lactuca
Japanese レタス, レタス
- レタス (retasu)an edible plant, Lactuca
- レタス (retasu)the leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Korean 상추
- 상추 (sangchu)an edible plant, Lactuca
Latin lactūca, lactūca
- lactūcaan edible plant, Lactuca
- lactūcathe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Latvian salāti
- salātian edible plant, Lactuca
Lithuanian salota, salotos
- salotaan edible plant, Lactuca
- salotosthe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Malay selada
- seladaan edible plant, Lactuca
Māori rētihi, rētihi
- rētihian edible plant, Lactuca
- rētihithe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Norwegian bladsalat
- bladsalatan edible plant, Lactuca
Persian کاهو, کاهو
- کاهو (kâhu)an edible plant, Lactuca
- کاهو (kâhu)the leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Polish sałata, sałata
- sałataan edible plant, Lactuca
- sałatathe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
- kapustaUS paper currency
- kapuchaUS paper currency
- sałataUS paper currency
Portuguese alface, alface
- alfacean edible plant, Lactuca
- alfacethe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
- verdinhasUS paper currency
Romanian lăptucă, salată
- lăptucăan edible plant, Lactuca
- salatăan edible plant, Lactuca
- salatăthe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Russian сала́т-лату́к, сала́т
- сала́т-лату́к (salát-latúk)an edible plant, Lactuca
- сала́т (salát)an edible plant, Lactuca
- лату́к (latúk)an edible plant, Lactuca
- сала́т (salát)the leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
- капу́ста (kapústa)US paper currency
Scottish Gaelic leatas, càl amh
- leatasan edible plant, Lactuca
- càl amhan edible plant, Lactuca
- leatasthe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
- càl amhthe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Spanish lechuga, lechuga
- lechugaan edible plant, Lactuca
- lechugathe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Swahili saladi, letusi
- saladian edible plant, Lactuca
- letusithe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Swedish sallat, sallad
- sallatan edible plant, Lactuca
- salladan edible plant, Lactuca
Tagalog letsugas
- letsugasan edible plant, Lactuca
Thai ผักกาดหอม, ผักสลัด
- ผักกาดหอม (pàk-gàat-hɔ̌ɔm)an edible plant, Lactuca
- ผักสลัด (pàk-sà-làt)an edible plant, Lactuca
Turkish marul, marul
- marulan edible plant, Lactuca
- marulthe leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Ukrainian сала́т, сала́т-лату́к
- сала́т (salát)an edible plant, Lactuca
- сала́т-лату́к (salát-latúk)an edible plant, Lactuca
Vietnamese rau diếp
- rau diếpan edible plant, Lactuca
Welsh letysen, letys
- letysenan edible plant, Lactuca
- letysan edible plant, Lactuca
Yiddish שאַלאַטן, סאַלאַט
- שאַלאַטן (shalatn)an edible plant, Lactuca
- סאַלאַט (salat)an edible plant, Lactuca
- שאַלאַטן (shalatn)the leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
- סאַלאַט (salat)the leaves of the lettuce plant, eaten as a vegetable or dish
Rhymes & wordplay
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
APA
lettuce. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lettuce
MLA
“lettuce.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lettuce. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lettuce,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lettuce.
Source: lettuce on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.