LEG'UME, LEGU'MEN, noun [Latin legumen, lego to collect, and signifying that which collects, or holds, or a collection.] 1. In botany, a pericarp or seed-vessel, of two valves, in which the seeds are fixed to one suture only. In the latter circumstance it differs from a siliqua, in which the seeds are attached to both sutures. In popular use, a legume is called a pod, or a cod; as a pea-pod, or peas-cod. 2. In the plural, pulse, peas, beans, etc.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI