plant

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Planted; p. pr. & vb. n. Planting. ] [ AS. plantian, L. plantare. See Plant, n. ] 1. To put in the ground and cover, as seed for growth; as, to plant maize. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To set in the ground for growth, as a young tree, or a vegetable with roots. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees. Deut. xvi. 21. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To furnish, or fit out, with plants; as, to plant a garden, an orchard, or a forest. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To engender; to generate; to set the germ of. [ 1913 Webster ]

It engenders choler, planteth anger. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To furnish with a fixed and organized population; to settle; to establish; as, to plant a colony. [ 1913 Webster ]

Planting of countries like planting of woods. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To introduce and establish the principles or seeds of; as, to plant Christianity among the heathen. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To set firmly; to fix; to set and direct, or point; as, to plant cannon against a fort; to plant a standard in any place; to plant one's feet on solid ground; to plant one's fist in another's face. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To set up; to install; to instate. [ 1913 Webster ]

We will plant some other in the throne. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To perform the act of planting. [ 1913 Webster ]

I have planted; Apollos watered. 1 Cor. iii. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being planted; fit to be planted. B. Edwards. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A word used once by Shakespeare to designate plants in general, or anything that is planted. [ 1913 Webster ]

As true as steel, as plantage to the moon. Shak. (Troil. iii. sc. 2). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. L. plantago. Cf. Plant. ] (Bot.) Any plant of the genus Plantago, but especially the Plantago major, a low herb with broad spreading radical leaves, and slender spikes of minute flowers. It is a native of Europe, but now found near the abode of civilized man in nearly all parts of the world. [ 1913 Webster ]

Indian plantain. (Bot.) See under Indian. --
Mud plantain, a homely North American aquatic plant (Heteranthera reniformis), having broad, reniform leaves. --
Rattlesnake plantain, an orchidaceous plant (Goodyera pubescens), with the leaves blotched and spotted with white. --
Ribwort plantain. See Ribwort. --
Robin's plantain, the Erigeron bellidifolium, a common daisylike plant of North America. --
Water plantain, a plant of the genus Alisma, having acrid leaves, and formerly regarded as a specific against hydrophobia. Loudon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. plantain-arbre, plantanier, Sp. plántano, plátano; prob. same word as plane tree. ] 1. (Bot.) A treelike perennial herb (Musa paradisiaca) of tropical regions, bearing immense leaves and large clusters of the fruits called plantains. See Musa. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The fruit of this plant. It is long and somewhat cylindrical, slightly curved, and, when ripe, soft, fleshy, and covered with a thick but tender yellowish skin. The plantain is a staple article of food in most tropical countries, especially when cooked. [ 1913 Webster ]

Plantain cutter, or
Plantain eater (Zool.), any one of several large African birds of the genus Musophaga, or family Musophagidæ, especially Musophaga violacea. See Turaco. They are allied to the cuckoos. --
Plantain squirrel (Zool.), a Java squirrel (Sciurus plantani) which feeds upon plantains. --
Plantain tree (Bot.), the treelike herb Musa paradisiaca. See def. 1 (above). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. planta a plant. ] Belonging to plants; as, plantal life. [ Obs. ] Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. plantaris, fr. planta the sole of the foot. ] (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the sole of the foot; as, the plantar arteries. [ 1913 Webster ]