spinach: [16] The ultimate origin of the word spinach is Persian aspanākh, which passed via Arabic isfināj, medieval Latin spinachia, and Spanish espinaca into Old French as espinache. Middle Dutch borrowed this as spinaetse, the probable source of English spinach. It has been speculated that the change of form from Arabic to Latin may have been partly motivated by the ‘spiny’ seeds of certain types of spinach. [spinach etymology, spinach origin, 英语词源]