| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| nasturtium |
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| SYLLABICATION: | nas·tur·tium |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  n -stûr shm, n - |
| NOUN: | 1. Any of various New World plants of the genus Tropaeolum, having pungent juice and long-spurred, usually yellow, orange, or red irregular flowers. 2. A brilliant orange yellow. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English nasturcium, a kind of cress, from Latin nasturtium : perhaps n sus, nose; see nas- in Appendix I + *tortre, frequentative of torqu re, to twist (from its pungent smell); see terkw- in Appendix I.
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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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