Plan·tain, n.  Bot. Any plant of the genus Plantago, but especially the Plantago major, a low herb with broad spreading radical leaves, and slender spikes of minute flowers.  It is a native of Europe, but now found near the abode of civilized man in nearly all parts of the world.
 Indian plantain. Bot. See under Indian.
 Mud plantain, a homely North American aquatic plant (Heteranthera reniformis), having broad, reniform leaves.
 Rattlesnake plantain, an orchidaceous plant (Goodyera pubescens), with the leaves blotched and spotted with white.
 Ribwort plantain. See Ribwort.
 Robin's plantain, the Erigeron bellidifolium, a common daisylike plant of North America.
 Water plantain, a plant of the genus Alisma, having acrid leaves, and formerly regarded as a specific against hydrophobia. --Loudon.
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 Rib·wort n. Bot. A species of plantain (Plantago lanceolata) with long, narrow, ribbed leaves; -- called also rib grass, ripple grass, ribwort plantain.
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