asparagus

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the tender young shoots of Asparagus officinalis, eaten as a vegetable

   She roasted the asparagus with olive oil and a little salt.

2. 2
   noun

   a perennial plant of the genus Asparagus, especially the species cultivated for its edible shoots

   The asparagus in the garden produced new spears each spring.

From Latin asparagus, from Ancient Greek asparagos. In English dialect the unfamiliar word was reshaped as sparrowgrass, a folk-etymological form once common enough to enter dictionaries. Asparagine, an amino acid first isolated from asparagus juice, was named from the plant.

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