A type of legume plant or its seed, possibly related to vetch or similar pulse crops used historically for food and animal feed.
From Medieval Latin ervilia, a diminutive form of ervum (a legume). The term has uncertain exact etymology but relates to plants cultivated in medieval Europe as a food crop.
Medieval peasants relied on legumes like ervils because they could grow them in poor soil and they nitrogen-fixed the earth—making what seemed like a humble bean absolutely revolutionary for agriculture and food security.
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