asparagus

Borrowed from Medieval Latin asparagus, sparagus, from Ancient Greek ἀσπάραγος (aspáragos), variant of ἀσφάραγος (aspháragos). Displaced Old English eorþnafola. Later became an eggcorn in dialect as sparrowgrass.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈspæɹ.ə.ɡəs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈspæɹ.ə.ɡəs/, /əˈspɛɹ.ə.ɡəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

asparagus (plural asparagus or asparaguses or asparagusses or asparagi)

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

   Synonyms: sparrowgrass, sparagus, sparagrass

2. The young shoots of Asparagus officinalis eaten as a vegetable.
   • 2013 April 2, David Tanis, “Hurry Up, Spring”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 02 April 2013, Dining & Wine‎^[2]:

     At the greenmarket, it’s still mostly potatoes and apples. There are no tender greens, fava beans, peas, asparagus, artichokes, sorrel, rhubarb or early strawberries.
     Those harbingers of the season are said to be full of chi, or qi, the Chinese word for life force. We’re craving them as we’re craving lighter, brighter-tasting meals, food that is greener and fresher.

3. A green colour, like that of an asparagus.

   asparagus:  

• asparagus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Asparagus on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• “asparagus”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Also found in Medieval Latin. From Ancient Greek ἀσπάραγος (aspáragos), variant of ἀσφάραγος (aspháragos).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [asˈpa.ra.ɡʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [asˈpaː.ra.ɡus]

asparagus m (genitive asparagī); second declension

1. asparagus; shoot, sprout-like asparagus, samphire
   • c. 160 BCE, Marcus Porcius Cato, De agri cultura‎^[3], archived from the original on 3 April 2022, chapter 161:

     Deinde fossulās facitō, quō rādīcēs asparagī dēmittās.

     Then make little ditches to drop the asparagus roots into.

   • 121 CE, Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, “Divus Augustus”, in De Vita Caesarum, chapter 87:

     Cōtīdiānō sermōne quaedam frequenter et nōtābilius ūsurpāsse eum [Augustum], litterae ipsius autographae ostendunt, in quibus [...] ad exprimendam festīnātae reī vēlōcitātem, celerius quam asparagī cocuntur; [...]

     That in daily conversation he [Augustus] often and famously used certain [expressions], his own handwritten letters show; among these, [...] to express the speed of a thing done quickly, faster than asparaguses are cooked; [...]

Second-declension noun.

• “asparagus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “asparagus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “asparagus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

• śparagus (Łowicz)

Learned borrowing from Latin asparagus. Doublet of szparag.

• IPA^(key): /as.paˈra.ɡus/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɡus
• Syllabification: as‧pa‧ra‧gus

asparagus m animal or m inan

1. common asparagus fern, asparagus grass, lace fern, climbing asparagus, ferny asparagus (Asparagus setaceus)

   Synonyms: szparag, szparag pierzasty

2. shoots of Asparagus setaceus

• asparagus in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• asparagus in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• asparagus in PWN's encyclopedia

Borrowed from French asparagus.

asparagus m (plural asparaguși)

1. asparagus