gentian

See also: Gentian

English

Etymology

Via Middle English from Latin gentiāna, which, according to Pliny the Elder, was named after Gentius (Ancient Greek Γένθιος (Génthios)), the last king of Illyria, who supposedly discovered the plant's medicinal benefits. This has been dismissed as folk etymology but the word may still ultimately be of Illyrian origin, as -an is a common suffix in Illyrian words.

Pronunciation

  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛnt͡ʃən/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛnt͡ʃn̩/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛnʃən

Noun

gentian (countable and uncountable, plural gentians)

  1. (countable) Any of various herbs of the family Gentianaceae found in temperate and mountainous regions with violet or blue flowers.
    • 1956, Delano Ames, Crime out of Mind‎[1], chapter 1:
      On the cover of the leaflet advertising the Alpenrose Gasthof in Zirl am Gurgl […] there is a decorative picture of a young woman. […] She has bright flaxen hair and laughing eyes of the same hue as the gentians in the meadow beyond the inn.
    • 2008, Christopher Paolini, “Assault on Helgrind”, in Brisingr, page 39:
      Searching again, he noticed something that had eluded him before: a single flower, a gentian, blooming not fifty feet in front of them, where, by all rights, there ought to be solid rock. How does it get enough light to live?
  2. (uncountable) Dried roots and rhizome of European gentian (Gentiana lutea), used as a tonic.

Synonyms

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Anagrams

Malay

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

  • (Baku, schwa-variety) IPA(key): /ɡənˈtjan/ [ɡən̪ˈt̪jan]
  • Rhymes: -an
  • Hyphenation: gen‧ti‧an

Noun

gentian (Jawi spelling ݢنتيان, plural gentian-gentian or gentian2)

  1. fibre
    Synonyms: serat, serabut, pelawat

Descendants

  • > Indonesian: gentian (inherited)

Further reading

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