Pronounced: QUEEN-buh-row may-uhr, noun
Notes: I have not heard this phrase, but it is a useful one
Yesterday’s word
The word orchidaceous means
- of, relating to, or resembling the orchids
- showy, ostentatious
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Background / Comments
Our word literally means “belonging to the Orchidaceae” (the name of the orchid family). The first definition was relatively obvious; the other meaning, although it makes sense with hindsight, didn’t spring to mind immediately. An interesting fact about orchids is that there is no such thing as a typical orchid. Orchids may be very tiny flowers to large showy flowers, and this is how the second definition arose. For me, orchids are also tied to the fictional detective Nero Wolfe (in books by Rex Stout) – Nero Wolfe created a greenhouse on the top floor of his New York brownstone and worked with orchids there.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 