gentian

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun any of various plants of the family Gentianaceae especially the genera Gentiana and Gentianella and Gentianopsis

Etymology

Via Middle English from Latin gentiāna, which, according to Pliny the Elder, was named after Gentius (Ancient Greek Γένθιος (Génthios)), the last king of Illyria, who supposedly discovered the plant's medicinal benefits. This has been dismissed as folk etymology but the word may still ultimately be of Illyrian origin, as -an is a common suffix in Illyrian words.

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