asparagus

as·par·a·gus  (-spr-gs)

n.

1. The tender young shoots of a Eurasian plant (Asparagus officinalis), eaten as a vegetable.

2. Any of various perennial plants of the Old World genus Asparagus having leaflike stems, scalelike leaves, and small flowers.

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[Late Middle English sperage, sparage, from Medieval Latin sparagus, from Latin asparagus, from Greek aspharagos, asparagos.]

Word History: The history of the word asparagus is a good illustration of one of the peculiarities of English etymologyone found in few other languages. After the rebirth of classical learning during the Renaissance, Greek and Latin achieved a lofty status among the educated. As a result, etymologists and spelling reformers of the 16th and 17th centuries tried to give English a classical look by Latinizing or Hellenizing the spelling of words that had Latin or Greek ancestry (and even some that didn't). For example, Medieval Latin had a word sparagus, from Classical Latin asparagus, that was borrowed into Middle English and rendered as sparage or, more commonly, sperage. Botanists were familiar with the proper Latin version asparagus, and their use of that term together with the efforts of the etymologists caused the Latin form to become more widespread, eventually supplanting sperage. Thus, it is difficult to say whether the Modern English word asparagus is a direct continuation of Middle English sperage or a borrowing directly from Latin, a difficulty one encounters with hundreds of other words whose spellings and even pronunciations were Latinized during this time. · The Latin form asparagus lives on in another guise as well; in the 1600s it was shortened in popular speech to 'sparagus, which became sparagrass, sparrowgrass by folk etymology.

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asparagus

Noun

the young shoots of a plant of the lily family, which can be cooked and eaten [Greek asparagos]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	asparagus - plant whose succulent young shoots are cooked and eaten as a vegetable Asparagus officinales, edible asparagus asparagus - edible young shoots of the asparagus plant herb, herbaceous plant - a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests genus Asparagus - large genus of Old World perennial herbs with erect or spreading or climbing stems and small scalelike leaves and inconspicuous flowers; sometimes placed in family Asparagaceae
	2.	asparagus - edible young shoots of the asparagus plant veg, vegetable, veggie - edible seeds or roots or stems or leaves or bulbs or tubers or nonsweet fruits of any of numerous herbaceous plant asparagus, Asparagus officinales, edible asparagus - plant whose succulent young shoots are cooked and eaten as a vegetable

Translations

asparagus [əsˈpærəgəs] n → espárragos mpl

asparagus [əsˈpærəgəs] n → asperges fpl

asparagus [əsˈpærəgəs] n → Spargel m

asparagus [əsˈpærəgəs] n → asparagi mpl