A Bean

1. Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic family Fabaceae that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods.
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.
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.
7. (slang) The clitoris.
8. (slang, often endearing) A person.
9. (Britain, slang, archaic) A guinea coin.
10. (Britain, slang, chiefly in the negative) Money.
11. (software) Clipping of JavaBean.

Usage notes

Beans and peas are sometimes misidentified (confused with one another); they are both legumes (belonging to the family Fabaceae) and seeds. The word bean has referred to a wide class of seeds since pre-Columbian times (when only the Eurasian types were known to Germanic language speakers), but after Columbian contact it was extended to other seeds belonging to the New World genus Phaseolus (runner beans, lima beans, and so on; see bean § Terminology for details). The fruits or seeds of some other non-Fabaceae plants (e.g., coffee beans, cocoa beans, vanilla beans, castor beans) are also referred to as beans because of their resemblance to beans as named in the stricter sense.

Peas are a type of bean with smaller, round seeds in the pod, in contrast to oval or kidney-shaped seeds usually referred to as beans. Because both terms are applied to a wide range of different legumes the distinction is not always clear: garbanzo bean is a synonym of chickpea.