Bean or seed?

[bassway]

How did coffee seed become known as a bean?

It looks like a seed. From what I have read it is a seed and not a bean.

So how did it get to be known as a bean? Strange.

[cksyd]

Re: Bean or seed?

Cos its bean roasted? ;D

[flynnaus]

Re: Bean or seed?

From what I have read it is a seed and not a bean

If you wikipedia "bean":

The term "bean" originally referred to the seed of the broad bean, but ....<snip>. The term is now applied in a general way to many other related plants such as soybeans, peas, lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas (garbanzos), vetches and lupins.

[Koffee_Kosmo]

Re: Bean or seed?

The term "bean" originally referred to the seed of the broad bean

I love to eat broad beans (fresh produce)
Sorry for going off topic

KK

[blanyon]

Re: Bean or seed?

The term "bean" originally referred to the seed of the broad bean, but ....<snip>. The term is now applied in a general way to many other related plants such as soybeans, peas, lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas (garbanzos), vetches and lupins.

They are all fairly similar in terms of where they grow and how they grow (ie winter annual) but the coffee tree is quite different and it is indeed a seed. The only one I can think of the top of my head which is similar is coco bean. Maybe it is something to do with it being a highly desirable food? ;D

[Thundergod]

Re: Bean or seed?

They are all fairly similar in terms of where they grow and how they grow

That would have no bearing on the use of the word.
Language is a strange beast.

[blanyon]

Re: Bean or seed?

That would have no bearing on the use of the word

I would disagree ie the use of the word grain to describe the seeds of grasses such as wheat barley etc. But I would agree with language being a strange thing my fave being we use the word pair to describe pants but you would never say a pair of tshirt.

[GregWormald]

Re: Bean or seed?

Pant is from pantaloon, or trouser--a covering suspended from the waist and covering a leg--therefore a PAIR covers both legs at once.

But english is weird, thats what makes it alive, the most dynamic language current, and sometimes, as confusing as all-get-out.

Greg

[coffee_snob]

Re: Bean or seed?

i thought beans are seeds or seed pods containing seeds

[bassway]

Re: Bean or seed?

i thought beans are seeds or seed pods containing seeds

From my understanding seeds in a pod are a bean. Therefore coffee is a seed not a bean.

But dictionary.com gives this:
–noun
1. the edible nutritious seed of various plants of the legume family, esp. of the genus Phaseolus.
2. a plant producing such seeds.
3. the pod of such a plant, esp. when immature and eaten as a vegetable.
4. any of various other beanlike seeds or plants, as the coffee bean.

As said before language is a strange beast!

[elbeano]

Re: Bean or seed?

Seedy bean,or bean seedy? ;D

[coffee_snob]

Re: Bean or seed?

i thought beans are seeds or seed pods containing seeds

From my understanding seeds in a pod are a bean. Therefore coffee is a seed not a bean.

But dictionary.com gives this:
–noun
1.      the edible nutritious seed of various plants of the legume family, esp. of the genus Phaseolus.
2.      a plant producing such seeds.
3.      the pod of such a plant, esp. when immature and eaten as a vegetable.
4.      any of various other beanlike seeds or plants, as the coffee bean.

As said before language is a strange beast!

i thought a bean in a pod was a pea and a bean was the ones you eat whole??

[cuppacoffee]

Re: Bean or seed?

thought a bean in a pod was a pea and a bean

No, no. A pea in a pod is a seed in a bean, and a....

Oh, this is all giving me the pip! ;D

[mwatt]

Re: Bean or seed?

I knew my botany course would have some use ... :

Ok, yes, a coffee bean is actually a seed. The cherry is the fruit, technically a simple, fleshy, indehescient fruit, specifically a drupe.

A green bean or a pea pod is actually a simple, dry, dehiscient fruit; specifically a legume. The pea bit is the seed.

As for cocoa fruit, it is also a drupe. And the bit we call the bean is, yes, a seed.

From what I can gather, bean is used somewhat arbitrarily, and not an actual botanical descriptor. I may be wrong though :-/

[blanyon]

Re: Bean or seed?

The name derives from the Arabic language ([ch1602][ch1607][ch1608][ch1577] qahwa - "coffee" and bunn - "berry"). The name bean is not botanically accurate as the Coffee plant is not a member of the Fabaceae family, nor does it form a pod.

This again from Wiki which seems to suggest that it is wrong to call it a bean but we just do. Go figure, I am glad I grew up with english and didnt have to learn all these strange isms.