licorice
/ˈlɪ.k(ə).ɹɪʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.85 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A plant of species Glycyrrhiza glabra, or sometimes in North America, the related American licorice plant Glycyrrhiza lepidota.
Countable
noun
A supposed aphrodisiac made in the past from dried roots of Glycyrrhiza glabra and Glycyrrhiza echinata.
Uncountable
Etymology
From Middle English lycorys, from Old French licoresse, from Late Latin liquiritia, alteration of Ancient Greek γλυκύρριζα (glukúrrhiza): γλυκύς (glukús, “sweet”) + ῥίζα (rhíza, “root”) (English glucose, English rhizome). Doublet of glycyrrhiza.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: lycorys, licoresse, liquiritia, γλυκύρριζα
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈlɪ.k(ə).ɹɪʃ/
- British English: /ˈlɪ.k(ə).ɹɪʃ/