There are four varieties of commercially viable coffee: Arabica, Liberica, Excelsa, and Robusta. Growers predominantly plant the Arabica species. Although less popular, Robusta tastes slightly more bitter and contains more caffeine.
MENSTRUUM
menstruation, menses, menstruum, catamenia, period, flow
(noun) the monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause; “the women were sickly and subject to excessive menstruation”; “a woman does not take the gout unless her menses be stopped”--Hippocrates; “the semen begins to appear in males and to be emitted at the same time of life that the catamenia begin to flow in females”--Aristotle
menstruum
(noun) (archaic) a solvent
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
menstruum (plural menstruums or menstrua)
(chiefly, in the plural, historical) The menses; menstrual discharge. [from 14th c.]
(historical) A solvent. [from 16th c.]
Any liquid medium.
Source: Wiktionary
Men"stru*um, n.; pl. E. Menstruums, L. Menstrua. Etym: [L. menstruus. See Menstruous.]
Definition: Any substance which dissolves a solid body; a solvent. The proper menstruum to dissolve metal. Bacon. All liquors are called menstruums which are used as dissolvents, or to extract the virtues of ingredients by infusion or decoction. Quincy.
Note: The use is supposed to have originated in some notion of the old chemists about the influence of the moon in the preparation of dissolvents. Johnson.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
13 January 2025
SOAK
(noun) the process of becoming softened and saturated as a consequence of being immersed in water (or other liquid); “a good soak put life back in the wagon”
Coffee Trivia
