saxifrage

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“
This deceitful appearance is caused by a small plant resembling saxifrage, which is abundant, growing in large patches on a species of crumbling moss.

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Definitions (15)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun Any of numerous herbs of the genus Saxifraga, having small, variously colored flowers and leaves that often form a basal rosette.

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Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples

  • Then a little later came the violets, blue and white, anemones, sweet-william, columbine and saxifrage. —  Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Reformers
  • His present ambition is to grow every possible saxifrage. —  Alfred Russel Wallace Letters and Reminiscences
  • This deceitful appearance is caused by a small plant resembling saxifrage, which is abundant, growing in large patches on a species of crumbling moss. —  The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 3
  • "A black car that never needs gas, obsoletes the internal combustion engine, and has no tires? —  Analog Science Fiction and Fact
  • Signs will read, for example: Speed Limit 80 km. —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol IV No 3
 

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Saxifrage has been looked up 269 times, favorited 0 times, listed 18 times, and commented on 0 times.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin (herba) saxifraga, maidenhair fern, feminine of Latin saxifragus, rock-breaking (from its being found growing in rock crevices) : saxum, rock; see sek- in Indo-European roots + frangere, frag-, to break; see bhreg- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English saxifrage, from Old French (and F.) saxifrage = Spanish saxífraga, saxifragua (vernacularly saxafrax, sasafras, salsafras, etc., later English sassafras) = Portuguese saxifraga, saxifragia = Italian sassifraga, sassifragia, from Latin saxifraga, in full saxifraga herba or saxifragum adiantum, maidenhair; literally ‘stone-breaking’ (so called because supposed to break stones in the bladder); feminine of saxifragus, stone-breaking, from saxum, a stone, rock (prob. from ✓ sac, sec, in secare, cut: see secant, saw), + frangere (✓ frag,) break, = English break: see fragile. Cf. sassafras.
 

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/ˈsæksɪfrədʒ/
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