English
nasturtium
Nasturtium comes from Middle English nasturcium ‘a plant in the genus Nasturtium’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nasturcium‘a plant in the genus Nasturtium’
- Englishearliest quotation 1915nasturtium
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nasturcium‘a plant in the genus Nasturtium’
- Englishearliest quotation 1915nasturtium
Earliest quotation: 1915, Robert W. Chambers, Un Peu d'Amour: “To me a nasturtium by the river brink is…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- ‘to turn, spin’
queer, tart, thwart, trowel, tortious, 17 more
through Proto-Italic *torkʷeō
distort, retort, extort, tortuous, torturous, contortion, 14 more
through Latin torqueō ‘to twist’
torch, torture, torque, torment, extortion, tort, torsion, 20 more
Today it means
noun The popular name of any of the plants in the Tropaeolum genus of flowering plants native to south and central America.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English nasturcium / nasturtium