vetch Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun any of various climbing plants of the genus Vicia having pinnately compound leaves that terminate in tendrils and small variously colored flowers; includes valuable forage and soil-building plants

Also fitch; OE. ficche, feche, for veche, OF. veche, vecce, vesche, vesce, F. vesce, fr. L. vicia.

(Bot.) Any leguminous plant of the genus Vicia, some species of which are valuable for fodder. The common species is V. sativa. ✍ The name is also applied to many other leguminous plants of different genera; as the chichling vetch, of the genus Lathyrus; the horse vetch, of the genus Hippocrepis; the kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria); the milk vetch, of the genus Astragalus; the licorice vetch, or wild licorice (Abrus precatorius).