What does pease mean?
Pease is an archaic English plural of pea, the seed of the pea plant. In present-day standard usage, the singular is pea and the plural is peas; pease is encountered chiefly in historical or literary contexts and in the traditional compound pease pudding. That dish uses dried or split peas boiled until soft and combined into a dense preparation, often with flour. The form preserves an older English convention in which certain nouns retained an -s ending in the plural. For readers encountering it outside an older text, pease is useful to recognize both for its grammatical history and for its survival in familiar food names. Although peas is the normal everyday plural, pease remains common enough in British culinary writing that readers should not mistake it for an unfamiliar ingredient or automatically correct it as a misspelling.
nounAn archaic plural of pea, now surviving chiefly in established culinary compounds such as pease pudding, a traditional dish made from softened dried peas.
- An archaic plural of pea, now surviving chiefly in culinary compounds such as pease pudding.
"For supper, we had a slice of pease pudding with bread and cheese."
"The tenant's weekly allowance included a peck of pease and a measure of oats."
"For supper, we had a slice of pease pudding with bread and cheese."
Pease is historically the plural of pea; modern English normally uses peas as the plural.
"The cook simmered the pease until they were tender."
Pease preserves the sound of an older English plural: today we say peas, but the old form survives in the comfort food pease pudding.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does pease come from?
Pease developed in Middle English as a plural form associated with pea. Its ultimate source is Old French peis, ultimately from Latin pisum, the pea. The older plural survives in modern English chiefly through established culinary compounds, while pea and peas became the ordinary singular and plural.
How pease is actually used
This is a literary or archaic form rather than an ordinary everyday plural. Its culinary use remains established and is particularly familiar in British food writing.
Easily confused with pease
Peas is the standard modern plural of pea, whereas pease is an archaic plural retained mainly in certain culinary compounds.