The peanut, also known as the groundnut, goober, pindar or monkey nut, taxonomically classified as Arachis hypogaea, is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to small and large commercial producers. It is classified as both a grain legume and an oil crop due to its high oil content. The peanut belongs to the botanical family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), commonly known as the legume, bean, or pea family. Peanuts are similar in taste and nutritional profile to "tree nuts" such as walnuts and almonds and, as a culinary nut, are often served in similar ways in Western cuisines. The botanical definition of a nut is "a fruit whose ovary wall becomes hard at maturity." Using this criterion, the peanut is not a nut. However, peanuts are usually categorized as "nuts" for culinary purposes and in common English more generally.
A nut is a fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, which is generally edible.
There is an additional requirement in botany that the shell does not open to release the seed (indehiscent). In a general context, a wide variety of dried seeds are called nuts, but in a botanical context, only ones that include the indehiscent fruit are considered true nuts.