Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A tough, wiry grass (Stipa tenacissima) of northern Africa, yielding a fiber used in making paper and as cordage.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A name given to two or three species of grass, the Macrochloa (Stipa) tenacissima, M. arenaria, and Lygeum Spartum of botanists, and especially to the first, which is abundant in northern Africa. The others are found in Spain and Portugal, and elsewhere in southern Europe. From esparto are manufactured printing-paper, cordage, shoes, matting, baskets, nets, mattresses, sacks, etc.
Wiktionary
- n. A perennial North African grass, Stipa tenacissima, used for fibre production, and for making paper.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) A species of Spanish grass (Macrochloa tenacissima), of which cordage, shoes, baskets, etc., are made. It is also used for making paper.
Etymologies
- From Spanish esparto, via Latin spartum from Ancient Greek σπάρτον (spárton, "rope, cable"). (Wiktionary)
- Spanish, from Latin spartum, from Greek sparton, rope. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Kingdom the conditions of its competition are of a more special kind by reason of the firm foothold of esparto, which is a most important staple in the manufacture of fine printings.”
“Paper itself was also becoming less expensive because of a combination of improved manufacturing at paper mills and the use of less expensive raw materials such as esparto grass.”
“Its economic prospects could hardly be called promising; in the years after World War II, its leading exports were two: esparto, a type of grass used to make paper for currency bills, and scrap metal scavenged from the rusting tanks and trucks and weaponry that had been left behind by the Axis and Allied Armies.”
“A naked sword leaned against a stool by the side of a shield; whips of hippopotamus leather, cymbals, bells, and necklaces were displayed pell-mell on baskets of esparto-grass; a felt rug lay soiled with crumbs of black bread; some copper money was carelessly heaped upon”
“As to the pay of the Mercenaries it nearly filled two esparto-grass baskets; there were even visible in one of them some of the leathern discs which the Republic used to economise its specie; and as the Barbarians appeared greatly surprised, Hanno told them that, their accounts being very difficult, the Ancients had not had leisure to examine them.”
“The strips of esparto-grass with which the doors were closed, beat against the walls.”
“Why, I would not use esparto for my bed, even though I had nothing but bands of rushes.”
“A small group of vigiles appeared from behind the Baths of Agrippa, on the far side of her, now sensibly holding esparto mats in front of them.”
“On top of the reeds he placed nine shells and nine short lengths of yarn, which he covered with esparto grass and more reeds.”
“SOLER, A. and GUZMAN, G. (1954) Characteristics of the wax from esparto (Stipa tenacissima).”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘esparto’.
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Russian Doll Words
A Russian Doll word is a word that, when you remove the first and last letters, is either the empty string, or a Russian Doll word. These are all of the 6 or more letter Russian Doll words found in...
taramea, tawings, tchicks, timider, tirades, tirings, towings, trailed, trailer, trained, trainee, trainer and 2373 more...
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It's an art
applecart, arterial, arthology, artesian, arthropod, arthrostraca, artifex, artificial, articulate, articling, artichoke, blue darter and 51 more...
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looked up
Words I've come across while reading and looked up in the dictionary.
deesis, pendentive, revetment, aedicule, stemma, patera, ephod, entrepot, corbel, exedra, volute, archivolt and 1406 more...
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Words that make you go hmmmm...
Interesting words you probably won't hear in your day-to-day.
maxwell, mooncalf, quagga, glaikit, musquash, lingam, haruspex, qindarka, chthonic, ipomoea, azimuthal, valuta and 304 more...
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Turning and Twisting Tours
words in the nature of double spirals
swift, swerve, swirl, swivel, swarm, swag, swank, swoop, swinge, swarf, spire, esparto and 361 more...
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