gentian
/ˈd͡ʒɛnt͡ʃən/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.14 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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?"
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: -, gentiāna, Γένθιος
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈd͡ʒɛnt͡ʃən/
- British English: /ˈd͡ʒɛnt͡ʃn̩/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Alpine gentian
American gentian
Appalachian gentian
autumn gentian
bastard gentian
Bavarian gentian
bigleaf gentian
bladder gentian