Orchid: The Victorians, embarrassed by… | etymologist.ai
orchid
/ˈɔːrkɪd/·noun·1840s·Established
Origin
'Orchid' is Greek for 'testicle' — named for the shape of its twin root tubers. The Victorians were mortified.
Definition
A large family of tropical flowering plants with complex, colorful blooms.
The Full Story
Greek1840swell-attested
From Latin 'orchis,' from Greek 'órkhis' (ὄρχις), literally meaning 'testicle,' from PIE *h₃erǵʰ-i- ('testicle'), referring to the paired tuber-like roots of many orchid species. Theophrastus first used thename in his botanical writings (c. 300 BCE), and the anatomical metaphor persisted throughcenturies
Did you know?
The Victorians, embarrassed by the etymology, preferred the Latinate form 'orchid' to the more transparent Greek 'orchis.'