the word 'spinach' entered english in the 15th century from the old french term 'espinache'. this french form derived from the medieval latin 'spinachia', which itself was adapted from the arabic 'isfānākh'. the arabic term traces back to the persian word 'aspanākh'. the journey of this word, following the vegetable's cultivation from persia into the mediterranean and europe, is a classic example of a loanword where the original morphemic structure (potentially related to a persian word for 'green hand') has been lost, leaving an unanalyzable simplex form in english that solely denotes the leafy green plant.

this word is a loanword where the morphemes from the source language are not productively separable in modern english spelling.