In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
HOUSELEEK
Etymology
Noun
houseleek (plural houseleeks)
Any of several succulent plants, of the genus Sempervivum, having a rosette of fleshy leaves
Synonyms
• ay-green
• bullock’s eye
• cyphel (disused)
• foose (dialectal)
• fouat, fouet (Scotland)
• full (obsolete, rare)
• healing blade
• healing leaf
• homewort (now historical and rare)
• house-green (chiefly in English regional use, now rare)
• imbreke (obsolete)
• jubarb (obsolete)
• Jupiter’s beard
• Jupiter’s eye
• liveforever
• seagreen (obsolete)
• sedum (obsolete)
• sempervive (obsolete)
• semper-vivens (obsolete, rare)
• sempervivum
• sengreen (now dialectal)
• thunder-plant
• welcome-home-husband-though-never-so-drunk
Hyponyms
• hen and chickens (Sempervivum globiferum)
Source: Wiktionary
House"leek`, n. Etym: [House + leek.] (Bot.)
Definition: A succulent plant of the genus Sempervivum (S. tectorum), originally a native of subalpine Europe, but now found very generally on old walls and roofs. It is very tenacious of life under drought and heat; -- called also ayegreen.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
20 April 2025
SALAD
(noun) food mixtures either arranged on a plate or tossed and served with a moist dressing; usually consisting of or including greens
Coffee Trivia
