purslane

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a plant of the family Portulacaceae having fleshy succulent obovate leaves often grown as a potherb or salad herb; a weed in some areas

Etymology

From Old French porcelaine, probably an alteration of Latin porcilaca (“purslane”) (related to portulaca (“purslane”)) to assimilate it with porcelaine (“porcelain”).

In classic literature

And he showed us a handful of an herb called purslane. — Adventures of a Young Naturalist, Lucien Biart
I have made a satisfactory dinner, satisfactory on several accounts, simply off a dish of purslane (Portulaca oleracea) which I gathered in my cornfield, boiled and salted. — Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau
But thou must eat little or no goat’s flesh, nor red deer——nor even foal’s flesh by any means; and carefully abstain——that is, as much as thou canst, from peacocks, cranes, coots, didappers, and water-hens—— As for thy drink—I need not tell thee, it must be the infusion of VERVAIN and the herb HANEA, of which Ælian relates such effects—but if thy stomach palls with it—discontinue it from time to time, taking cucumbers, melons, purslane, water-lillies, woodbine, and lettice, in the stead of them. — The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy, gentleman, Laurence Sterne

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purslane

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