means A leafy green vegetable, eaten raw or cooked, prized for its mild earthy flavor and nutritional content.

from From Middle English 'spinach,' via Old French 'espinache' or 'espinoche,' which traces back through Medieval Latin 'spinachium' to Arabic 'isfānākh' — itself borrowed from Persian 'aspanākh.' The plant traveled westward with the Arab world's gardeners and merchants, carrying its Persian name along the trade routes into Europe, where it picked up Latinized spellings on the way. One common notion links the name to Latin 'spina' (thorn), perhaps for the prickly seeds of some varieties — but that's likely a later association rather than the true root, which stays firmly Persian.