garbanzo

noun

gar·​ban·​zo gär-ˈbän-(ˌ)zō 

also -ˈban-

plural garbanzos

: chickpea

Examples of garbanzo in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And to spring back to mazeh for a moment, the menu’s weirdest disappointment was the hummus, a dish that isn’t a longstanding part of Iranian cuisine, but, as with so many of us in the world who love blitzed garbanzos, has been adopted from its Eastern Mediterranean origins. —Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026

Food and drink Local ingredients are spun into global favorites such as Middle Eastern garbanzo for breakfast or foie-gras terrine for supper, while also celebrating traditional Creole dishes. —Rosalyn Wikeley, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Jan. 2026

Beans like navy, black, garbanzo, kidney, pinto, and lima beans are rich in fiber, protein, and key minerals like magnesium and potassium. —Jillian Kubala, Health, 5 Nov. 2025

This turkey chili recipe gets flavor (and fiber!) from a trio of beans, including kidney, garbanzo, and the most unexpected: edamame. —Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 15 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Spanish (earlier usually garvanço), alteration (perhaps by blending with garroba "carob, algaroba" or gálbana "kind of pea") of earlier arvanço, ervanço, of uncertain origin

Note: Recorded as arbānsuš or arbānšuš among Hispanic words in the Arabic pharmacopoeia Kitāb al-Mustaʻīnī of Yūsuf bin Isḥāq ibn Baklāriš (ca. 1106). As noted by Joan Coromines (Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico), Greek erébinthos "chickpea" is unlikely to be the immediate source; the change i > a is ad hoc, and the outcome of -th- as z/ç is questionable. The initial arv-/erv- is comparable with a widespread group of words presumably of Mediterranean substratal origin—in addition to Greek erébinthos and órobos "the vetch Vicia ervilia," there are Latin ervum "the vetch Vicia ervilia," Germanic *arw(a)-(a)itō "pea" (whence Old High German araweiz, Old Saxon eriwit, erit, Old Norse ertr), Middle Irish orbaind "grains." The suffix of the Spanish word (*-antio?) is of obscure origin.

First Known Use

1712, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing garbanzo

• garbanzo bean

Kids Definition

garbanzo

noun

gar·​ban·​zo gär-ˈbän-zō 

plural garbanzos

: chickpea

called also garbanzo bean