lovage
/ˈlʌvəd͡ʒ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.79 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A perennial Mediterranean herb, of species Levisticum officinale, with odor and flavor resembling celery.
Countable; Uncountable
Etymology
From Middle English loveache, a folk-etymological alteration, after love and ache (“parsley”), of Anglo-Norman luvasche and Old French luvache, loveche et al., and Middle French levesche, from Latin levisticum, probably alteration of Latin ligusticum, substantivization of the neuter of Ligusticus (“Ligurian”), ultimately from Ancient Greek Λιγυστικός (Ligustikós, “Ligurian”), from Λίγυς (Lígus, “Ligurian”). This replaced the Old English name lufestiċe (literally “love-stitch”), which was also derived from levisticum and altered by folk-etymology.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: loveache, luvasche, luvache, levesche, levisticum, ligusticum
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈlʌvəd͡ʒ/
- British English: /ˈlʌvɪd͡ʒ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Phrases
Scots lovage
Szechuan lovage