| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| sarsaparilla |
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| SYLLABICATION: | sar·sa·pa·ril·la |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  s s p -r l , särs- |
| NOUN: | 1a. Any of several tropical American plants of the genus Smilax, having fragrant roots used as a flavoring. b. The dried roots of any of these plants. c. A sweet soft drink flavored with these roots. 2. Either of two North American plants (Aralia hispida or A. nudicaulis) having umbels of small white flowers and bipinnately compound leaves. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Spanish zarzaparrilla : zarza, bramble (from Arabic  aras, colloquial variant of irs, from arasa, to be vicious, ultimately from arra; see  rr in Appendix II) + parrilla, diminutive of parra, vine.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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