What does garbanzo mean?
Garbanzo is a noun naming the chickpea, a small, round, beige-seeded legume also known as the garbanzo bean. It is a familiar ingredient in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking, where chickpeas may be boiled, roasted, mashed into hummus, or combined with vegetables and grains. In American English, garbanzo is particularly common; British speakers more often use chickpea, though the word is also used and readily understood in Britain. Garbanzo generally refers to the edible seed, which is what appears in dishes, cans, and packaged foods. The name was borrowed from Spanish, in which garbanzo is the established word for the chickpea. Together with chickpea and the Spanish form chícharo, it belongs to a wider group of European names for this ancient cultivated legume, all connected with the plant's long history in the Mediterranean and Middle East.
nounA chickpea, a round, beige-seeded legume widely used in Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and South Asian cooking. It is also called a garbanzo bean.
- The chickpea (Cicer arietinum), or its edible seed, especially when used in Mediterranean or Middle Eastern cuisine.
"She added chickpeas, tomatoes, and olive oil to the bowl of garbanzo salad."
"A tin of garbanzos became chickpeas once the beans were drained and rinsed."
"The menu featured roasted garbanzo salad with parsley and lemon dressing."
The standard plural is garbanzos; garbanzo beans is also common when referring to the individual seeds.
"Two cans of garbanzos were opened for the salad."
The familiar chickpea has a Spanish-flavored alias: garbanzo, a name that entered English from Spanish.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does garbanzo come from?
English borrowed garbanzo from Spanish, where the word denotes a chickpea and ultimately refers to an Arabic source. The related English word chickpea entered through Spanish chícharo, while French acquired pois chiche. These forms preserve the older European vocabulary for a legume that has been cultivated for millennia.
Related word forms
How garbanzo is actually used
Garbanzo is common in American English and is also understood in British English, although chickpea is often the more usual British term. The plural garbanzos is standard, while garbanzo beans is especially common when discussing the whole seeds as food.