Category:Lentil

Len"til, n. Etym: [F. lentille, fr. L. lenticula, dim. of lens, lentis, lentil. Cf. Lens.] (Bot.)

Defn: A leguminous plant of the genus Ervum (Ervum Lens), of small size, common in the fields in Europe. Also, its seed, which is used for food on the continent.

Note: The lentil of the Scriptures probably included several other vetchlike plants. Lentil shell (Zoöl.), a small bivalve shell of the genus Ervillia, family Tellinidæ.

--- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Lentils - (Heb. 'adashim ), a species of vetch (Genesis 25:34; 2 Samuel 23:11), common in Syria under the name addas. The red pottage made by Jacob was of lentils (Genesis 25:29). They were among the provisions brought to David when he fled from Absalom (2 Samuel 17:28). It is the Ervum lens of Linnaeus, a leguminous plant which produces a fruit resembling a bean.