Meanings
nounspinach (countable and uncountable, plural spinaches)
plural spinaches · alternative obsolete spinage · alternative obsolete spinnach
- countableuncountableAny member of species Spinacia oleracea of edible plants, or its leaves.
Another option is to wash spinach and other leafy greens thoroughly in running water before eating them.
2021 July 1, Gregory McNamee, “Does spinach make you strong? Ask Popeye – and science”, in CNN, archived from the original on 11 Jun 2025 - countableuncountableAny of numerous plants, or their leaves, which are used for greens in the same way Spinacia oleracea is or resemble it in some way.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThick rough.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
nounsouthwestern Asian plant widely cultivated for its succulent edible dark green leaves
Similar
spinach plantprickly-seeded spinachSpinacia oleracea
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Classical Persianاسپناخ
- Arabicإِسْفَانَاخ
- Old Occitanespinarc
- Old Frenchespinoche
- Anglo-Normanspinache
- Middle Englishspinach
- Englishspinach
From Middle English spinach, from Anglo-Norman spinache, from Old French espinoche, from Old Occitan espinarc, from Arabic إِسْفَانَاخ (ʔisfānāḵ), from Classical Persian اسپناخ (ispanāx, ispināx).
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans spinasie
- spinasiea particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Ancient Greek σπανακόν, σπάναξ
- σπανακόν (spanakón)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
- σπάναξ (spánax)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Arabic سَبَانِخ, إِسْفَانَاخ
- سَبَانِخ (sabāniḵ)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
- إِسْفَانَاخ (ʔisfānāḵ)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Bulgarian спанак
- спанак (spanak)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Catalan espinac
- espinaca particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Chinese Cantonese 菠菜
- 菠菜 (bo¹ coi³)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Chinese Mandarin 菠菜
- 菠菜 (bōcài)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Czech špenát
- špenáta particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Danish spinat
- spinata particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Dutch spinazie
- spinaziea particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Esperanto spinaco
- spinacoa particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Finnish pinaatti
- pinaattia particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
French épinards
- épinardsa particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
German Spinat
- Spinata particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Greek σπανάκι
- σπανάκι (spanáki)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Hawaiian ʻīnika
- ʻīnikaa particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Hebrew תרד
- תרד (tered)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Hindi पालक
- पालक (pālak)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Hungarian spenót, paraj
- spenóta particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
- paraja particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Icelandic spínat
- spínata particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Indonesian bayam
- bayama particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Irish spionáiste
- spionáistea particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Italian spinacio
- spinacioa particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Japanese 菠薐草
- 菠薐草 (hōrensō)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Korean 시금치
- 시금치 (sigeumchi)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Latin blitum, spinacia
- blituma particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
- spinaciaa particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Latvian spināti
- spinātia particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Malay bayam
- bayama particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Māori rengarenga, rengamutu
- rengarengaa particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
- rengamutua particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
- kōkihia particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Norwegian spinat
- spinata particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Persian اسفناج
- اسفناج (esfenâj)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Polish szpinak
- szpinaka particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Portuguese espinafre
- espinafrea particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Punjabi ਪਾਲਕ
- ਪਾਲਕ (pālak)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Romanian spanac
- spanaca particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Russian шпина́т
- шпина́т (špinát)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Slovak špenát
- špenáta particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Spanish espinaca
- espinacaa particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Swahili mchicha
- mchichaa particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Swedish spenat
- spenata particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Tagalog espinaka
- espinakaa particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Thai ปวยเล้ง
- ปวยเล้ง (bpuai-léng)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Turkish ıspanak, ısmalak
- ıspanaka particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
- ısmalaka particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Ukrainian шпина́т
- шпина́т (špynát)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Vietnamese rau bina, rau chân vịt
- rau binaa particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
- rau chân vịta particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
- cải bó xôia particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Yiddish שפּינאַט, שפּינאַק
- שפּינאַט (shpinat)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
- שפּינאַק (shpinak)a particular edible plant, Spinacia oleracea
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
spinach. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spinach
MLA
“spinach.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spinach. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spinach,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spinach.
Source: spinach on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.