loosestrife

loosestrife

English

purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)

gooseneck loosestrife (Lysimachia clethroides)

Etymology

Calque of Ancient Greek λυσιμάχειον (lusimákheion), as if from λύσις (lúsis, “loosening”) + μάχη (mákhē, “battle, strife”).

Noun

loosestrife (countable and uncountable, plural loosestrifes)

1. Any of certain flowering plants of the genera Lythrum and Lysimachia, which are not closely related.
   • 1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth, hardback edition, page 91,

     He had a suit of summer mufti, and a broad-brimmed blue beaver hat looped with leaves broken from the hedgerows in the lanes, and a Leander scarf tucked full of flowers: loosestrife, meadowrue, orchis, ragged-robin.

   • 2008, Allan M. Armitage, Herbaceous Perennial Plants, 3rd Edition, page 672,

     Most loosestrifes thrive in the northern part of the United States and Canada but only a few make good garden plants for the South.

   • 2013, Théodore de Saussure, Jane F. Hill (translator), Chemical Research on Plant Growth, [Recherches chimiques sur la Végétation], page 22,

     I grew some peas, loosestrifes, and fleabanes [“inules”] in profound darkness, beneath two identical receptacles filled with atmospheric air.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• false loosestrife (Ludwigia spp.)
• fringed loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata)
• gooseneck loosestrife (Lysimachia clethroides)
• loosestrife borer (Papaipema lysimachiae)
• purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
• spatulaleaf loosestrife (Lythrum portula)
• threebract loosestrife (Lythrum tribracteatum)
• yellow loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris)

Translations

Lythrum

Finnish: rantakukka (fi) French: salicaire (fr) f German: Blutweiderich m Polish: krwawnica f

Lysimachia

Bulgarian: лени́вче n (lenívče) Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Czech: please add this translation if you can Danish: please add this translation if you can Finnish: alpi (fi) French: lysimaque (fr) f German: Gilbweiderich m Greek: Ancient Greek: λυσιμάχειον n (lusimákheion) Polish: tojeść (pl) f Russian: вербе́йник (ru) m (verbéjnik) Sanskrit: please add this translation if you can Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: проти́вак (sh) m, мѐтӣљка f, мѐтӣљ m Latin: protívak (sh) m, mètīljka (sh) f, mètīlj (sh) m Swedish: lysing (sv) c Tamil: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

Anagrams

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