Meaning

noun long pinkish sour leafstalks usually eaten cooked and sweetened

noun plants having long green or reddish acidic leafstalks growing in basal clumps; stems (and only the stems) are edible when cooked; leaves are poisonous

originFrom Middle English rubarbe, from Anglo-Norman reubarbe (modern French rhubarbe), from Late Latin reubarbarum, rheubarbarum, rubarbera, rybarba, probably from Koine Greek ῥῆον βαρβαρικόν (rhêon barbarikón), from ῥῆον (rhêon, “rhubarb”) + Ancient Greek βαρβαρικόν (barbarikón), neuter of βαρβαρικός (barbarikós, “foreign; barbaric”) (English barbaric). There is also a Medieval Latin variant…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0