agave
English
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Ancient Greek Ἀγαυή (Agauḗ, “Agave”), from ἀγαυός (agauós, “noble, illustrious”).
Pronunciation
edit- IPA(key): /əˈɡɑːveɪ/, /əˈɡeɪviː/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Rhymes: -eɪvi
Noun
editagave (plural agaves)
- Any plant in the large, variable genus Agave: succulent plants, commonly armed with formidable prickles; they flower at maturity after several years, and generally die thereafter; large species, such as the maguey or century plant, (Agave americana), produce gigantic inflorescences. Several are of economic importance as sources of fibre such as sisal, and alcoholic beverages such as tequila.
- 1895, J[ohn] W[esley] Powell, chapter I, in Canyons of the Colorado, Meadville, PA: Flood & Vincent; republished as The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, New York: Dover, 1961, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 22:
- On the mountains a few junipers and piñons are found, and cactuses, agave, and yuccas, low, fleshy plants with bayonets and thorns.
- 1893 Charles Richards Dodge, A Report on the Leaf Fibers of the United States. Pub: Govt. print. office Washington
- The work of cutting the leaves, even from these isolated plants, was in the nature of an ordeal. Every member of the party took a knife and attacked the thicket, no one escaping the experience of bleeding hands and arms and of more or less injured clothing. If there is any place where strong language is halfway excusable it is in a thicket of 'Agave' decipiens.
- 1998, Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Talents, HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP (2019), pages 25–26:
- It was one of the large, vicious varieties of agave, each individual plant an upturned rosette of stiff, fibrous, fleshy leaves, some of them over a meter long on the big parent plants.
- Synonym: century plant
Usage notes
editCommonly confused with the unrelated genus Aloe, even referred to as "American Aloe".
Derived terms
editTranslations
edit
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Further reading
edit- Agave on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Agave on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
- Agave on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
- agave at USDA Plants database
- aloe
- maguey
Danish
editEtymology
editFrom New Latin Agave, from Ancient Greek Ἀγαυή (Agauḗ), name of one of the daughters of Cadmus, from ἀγαυός (agauós, “noble, illustrious”).
Noun
editagave c (singular definite agaven, plural indefinite agaver)
Declension
editFurther reading
edit- “agave” in Den Danske Ordbog
French
editEtymology
editFrom New Latin Agave, from Ancient Greek Ἀγαυή (Agauḗ), name of one of the daughters of Cadmus, from ἀγαυός (agauós, “noble, illustrious”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editagave m (plural agaves)
Further reading
edit- “agave”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
editEtymology
editFrom New Latin Agave, from Ancient Greek Ἀγαυή (Agauḗ), name of one of the daughters of Cadmus, from ἀγαυός (agauós, “noble, illustrious”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editagave f (plural agavi)
Portuguese
editEtymology
editBorrowed from New Latin Agave, from Ancient Greek Ἀγαυή (Agauḗ), name of one of the daughters of Cadmus, from ἀγαυός (agauós, “noble, illustrious”).
Pronunciation
edit
- Hyphenation: a‧ga‧ve
Noun
editagave m (plural agaves)
Spanish
editEtymology
editBorrowed from translingual Agave, from Ancient Greek Ἀγαυή (Agauḗ), name of one of the daughters of Cadmus, from ἀγαυός (agauós, “noble, illustrious”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editagave m (plural agaves)
Derived terms
editSee also
editFurther reading
edit- “agave”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
- English terms borrowed from Ancient Greek
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/eɪvi
- Rhymes:English/eɪvi/3 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- en:Agavoideae subfamily plants
- en:Succulents
- Danish terms derived from New Latin
- Danish terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish common-gender nouns
- French terms derived from New Latin
- French terms derived from Ancient Greek
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- fr:Asparagus family plants
- Italian terms derived from New Latin
- Italian terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Italian 3-syllable words
- Italian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Italian/aɡave
- Rhymes:Italian/aɡave/3 syllables
- Italian lemmas
- Italian nouns
- Italian countable nouns
- Italian feminine nouns
- it:Asparagus family plants
- Portuguese terms borrowed from New Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from New Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Portuguese 3-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese masculine nouns
- pt:Asparagus family plants
- Spanish terms borrowed from Translingual
- Spanish terms derived from Translingual
- Spanish terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Spanish 3-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Spanish terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/abe
- Rhymes:Spanish/abe/3 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish masculine nouns
- es:Agavoideae subfamily plants