The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.
MYRTLE
myrtle, Vinca minor
(noun) widely cultivated as a groundcover for its dark green shiny leaves and usually blue-violet flowers
myrtle
(noun) any evergreen shrub or tree of the genus Myrtus
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Proper noun
Myrtle
A female given name from English.
Anagrams
• termly
Etymology
Noun
myrtle (plural myrtles)
An evergreen shrub or small tree of the genus Myrtus, native to southern Europe and north Africa.
Anagrams
• termly
Source: Wiktionary
Myr"tle, n. Etym: [F. myrtil bilberry, prop., a little myrtle, from myrte myrtle, L. myrtus, murtus, Gr. m.] (Bot.)
Definition: A species of the genus Myrtus, especially Myrtus communis. The common myrtle has a shrubby, upright stem, eight or ten feet high. Its branches form a close, full head, thickly covered with ovate or lanceolate evergreen leaves. It has solitary axillary white or rosy flowers, followed by black several-seeded berries. The ancients considered it sacred to Venus. The flowers, leaves, and berries are used variously in perfumery and as a condiment, and the beautifully mottled wood is used in turning.
Note: The name is also popularly but wrongly applied in America to two creeping plants, the blue-flowered periwinkle and the yellow- flowered moneywort. In the West Indies several myrtaceous shrubs are called myrtle. Bog myrtle, the sweet gale.
– Crape myrtle. See under Crape.
– Myrtle warbler (Zoöl.), a North American wood warbler (Dendroica coronata); -- called also myrtle bird, yellow-rumped warbler, and yellow-crowned warbler.
– Myrtle wax. (Bot.) See Bayberry tallow, under Bayberry.
– Sand myrtle, a low, branching evergreen shrub (Leiophyllum buxifolium), growing in New Jersey and southward.
– Wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera). See Bayberry.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
8 May 2025
INSULATION
(noun) the act of protecting something by surrounding it with material that reduces or prevents the transmission of sound or heat or electricity
Coffee Trivia
