amaranth
UK /ˈæməɹænθ/ · US /ˈæməˌɹænθ/ noun
Forms amaranths amarant
- noun (dated, poetic) An imaginary flower that does not wither.
- noun Any of various herbs of the genus Amaranthus.
- noun The characteristic purplish-red colour of the flowers or leaves of these plants.
- noun (organic chemistry) A red to purple azo dye used as a biological stain, and in some countries in cosmetics and as a food colouring. See Amaranth (dye).
- noun (cooking) The seed of these plants, used as a cereal.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from French amarante, or directly from its etymon Latin amarantus (the word ending influenced by plant names derived from Ancient Greek ἄνθος (ánthos, “a bloom, blossom, flower”)), from Ancient Greek ἀμάραντος (amárantos, “eternal, undying, unfading, unwilting; amaranth; everlasting flower”) (modern Greek αμάραντος (amárantos)), from ᾰ̓- (ă-, the alpha privativum, a prefix forming words having a sense opposite to the word or stem to which it is attached) + μαραίνω (maraínō, “to shrivel, wither”) + -τος (-tos, suffix forming adjectives).
Webster’s 1913
- noun An imaginary flower supposed never to fade. [Poetic]
- noun A genus of ornamental annual plants (Amaranthus) of many species, with green, purplish, or crimson flowers.
Etymology [L. amarantus, Gr. mortal; -- so called because its flowers do not soon wither: cf. F. amarante. The spelling with th seems to be due to confusion with Gr. 1. An imaginary flower supposed never to fade. [Poetic]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “amaranth”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details