The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
VERBENA
verbena, vervain
(noun) any of numerous tropical or subtropical American plants of the genus Verbena grown for their showy spikes of variously colored flowers
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
verbena (plural verbenas)
Verbena, a genus of herbaceous plants of which several species are extensively cultivated for the great beauty of their flowers; vervain.
Source: Wiktionary
Ver*be"na, n. Etym: [L. See Vervain.] (Bot.)
Definition: A genus of herbaceous plants of which several species are extensively cultivated for the great beauty of their flowers; vervain.
Note: Verbena, or vervain, was used by the Greeks, the Romans, and the Druids, in their sacred rites. Brewer. Essence of verbena, Oil of verbena, a perfume prepared from the lemon verbena; also, a similar perfume properly called grass oil. See Grass oil, under Grass.
– Lemon, or Sweet, verbena, a shrubby verbenaceous plant (Lippia citriodora), with narrow leaves which exhale a pleasant, lemonlike fragrance when crushed.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
6 May 2025
HEEDLESS
(adjective) marked by or paying little heed or attention; “We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics”--Franklin D. Roosevelt; “heedless of danger”; “heedless of the child’s crying”
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