gladiolus

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a flowering plant with sword-shaped leaves and tall spikes of large, brightly colored flowers

   She planted a red gladiolus beside the garden wall.

2. 2
   noun

   the long central part of the sternum or breastbone

   The body of the sternum is also called the gladiolus.

A learned borrowing from Latin gladiolus, 'little sword' or 'sword lily,' the diminutive of gladius, 'sword.' The plant was named for its sword-shaped leaves; anatomists later applied the same form to the long central section of the sternum.

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