bean

Etymology

From Middle English bene, from Old English bēan, from Proto-West Germanic *baunu, from Proto-Germanic *baunō (“bean”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰabʰ- (“bean”). Cognate with Scots bene, bein (“bean”), West Frisian bean (“bean”), Dutch boon (“bean”), German Bohne (“bean”), Danish bønne (“bean”), Norwegian bønne (“bean”), Icelandic baun (“bean”), Latin faba (“bean”), Russian боб (bob, “bean”), Serbo-Croatian бо̏б/bȍb. Doublet of fava.

noun

1. Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic family Fabaceae that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods.
   2004, T. N. Shivenanda, B. R. V. Iyengar, Phosphorus Management in French Bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.), Ramdane Dris, S. Mohan Jain (editors), Production Practices and Quality Assessment of Food Crops, Volume 2: Plant Mineral Nutrition and Pesticide Management, page 79, Beans are a large group of leguminous vegetables that serve as a main source of proteins in human diet. This group comprises several species and some of them are Adzuki bean (Vigna angularis); Broad bean (Vicia faba); Cluster bean (Cyamposis tetragonoloba); French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris); […] .
2. The large edible seed of such a plant (for example, a broad bean, navy bean, or garbanzo bean).
3. The edible seedpod of such a plant.
   Green beans, also called French beans, can be pickled and made into pickled beans.
4. (by extension) The bean-like seed of certain other plants, such a a vanilla bean or (especially) a coffee bean.
5. (by extension) An object resembling a pea or bean in shape, often made from plastic or styrofoam and used in large numbers as packing material or as stuffing for beanbags and similar items.
6. (slang) The head or brain.
   Now, there was a perfectly sound forecast for you. Certainly a case of using the old bean. The surmise was perfectly logical. 1959, Maxwell Droke, You and the World to Come, page 173
   I saw her quiver and kept a wary eye on the ginger ale bottle. But even if she had raised it and brought it down on [my] bean, I couldn't have been more stunned than I was by the words that left her lips. … Well, as I say, it was from his fertile bean that the idea sprang. 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter XI and XV
7. (slang) The clitoris.
   For one, don't stage a full-frontal assault on her bean. 2010, Cynthia W. Gentry, Dana Fredst, What Women Really Want in Bed: The Surprising Secrets Women Wish Men Knew about Sex, Quiver, published 2010, page 64
8. (slang, often endearing) A person.
   Sparky is a good bean, even if he is a carpet-bagging bean at that. April 9 2000, Richard G Cheek, “Apologies, DimWit Dana”, in talk.politics.guns (Usenet)
   i dont want boid (whoever said that) he is mean. boid is a mean bean. 2002 March 21, Yena, "oh my bloody god boys!", microsoft.public.xbox, Usenet
   "Good, because we like you. You're okay. You're a good bean." "I never thought I'd be friends with a cheerleader," I said. 2007, Alex Bradley, Hot Lunch, Penguin
9. (Britain, slang, archaic) A guinea coin.
10. (Britain, slang, chiefly in the negative) Money.
    I haven't got a bean.
11. (software) Clipping of JavaBean.
    „AppletInitializer Methods in this interface are used to initialize Beans that are also applets.“ 2014-04-24, “JavaBeans: JavaBeans API”, in Wikipedia, retrieved 2014-04-25
    „The SelectionInList uses three ValueModels to hold the list, the selection and selection index and provides bound bean properties for these models. You can access, observe and replace these ValueModels. This is useful to connect a SelectionInList with other ValueModels; for example you can use the SelectionInList's selection holder as bean channel for a PresentationModel. Since the SelectionInList is a ValueModel, it is often used as bean channel. See the Binding tutorial classes for examples on how to connect a SelectionInList with a PresentationModel.“ 2010, “Class SelectionInList”, in Twister Data Framework, retrieved 2014-04-25

verb

1. (chiefly baseball) To hit deliberately with a projectile, especially in the head.
   The pitcher beaned the batter, rather than letting him hit another home run.
   Though I shall have to exercise an iron self-restraint to keep me from beaning that pie-faced little hornswoggler Mrs Bertram Wooster, nee Wickham, with the shaker. … dudgeon might easily lead her to reach for the ginger ale bottle and bean me with it. 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter IX and XI