periwinkle
/ˈpɛɹ.ɪˌwɪŋ.kəl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.39 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "The Periwinkle is a great binder, staying bleeding both at mouth and nose if some of the leaves be chewed."
- "He that vvould diſcern the rudimentall ſtroak of a plant, may behold it in the Originall of Duckvveed, at the bigneſſe of a pins point, from convenient vvater in glaſſes, vvherein a vvatchfull eye may alſo diſcover the puncticular Originals of Perivvincles and Gnats."
- "Among herbs that have traditionally been considered to possess aphrodisiac virtue are, maidenhair, navelwort, anemone, wild poppy, valerian, cyclamen, male fern, pansy, periwinkle."
- "And although we’ve certainly seen a variety of blue shades — from periwinkle to cobalt and even Dean Cain’s indigo-washed costume from the 1990’s TV show “Lois & Clark” — Superman’s uniform is still instantly recognizable across generations. In fact, there is only one film — Zack Snyder’s 2013 “Man of Steel” — in which Superman does not wear his iconic red belted trunks."
- "He was working a pin into a periwinkle shell, turning it to extract the toothsome morsel of meat."
Etymology
Diminutive of Middle English perwinke, from Old English perfince, perwince (compare Middle High German berwinke), from Latin pervinca (compare French pervenche, Italian pervinca).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: perwinke, perfince, pervinca, pīnewincle, pīna, πίνη
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɛɹ.ɪˌwɪŋ.kəl/
- British English: /ˈpɛɹ.ɪˌwɪŋ.kəl/
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
bigleaf periwinkle
blue periwinkle
common periwinkle
greater periwinkle
herbaceous periwinkle
large periwinkle
Madagascar periwinkle
rose periwinkle