Noun
A Small leguminous plant (Cicer arietinum) of Asia, Africa, and the south of Europe; the chich; the dwarf pea; the gram.
Its nutritious seed, used in cookery, and especially, when roasted (parched pulse), as food for travelers in the Eastern deserts.
Source: Webster's dictionarychick pea
The dictionary cites "Chick-pea" in the mid-18th century; the original word in English taken directly from French was chich, found in print in English in 1388. Source: Internet