costmary
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- A perennial herb: A Eurasian plant (Tanacetum balsamita, formerly Chrysanthemum balsamita) with button-like yellow flowers and aromatic, tansy-scented leaves.
- A culinary and medicinal herb: The leaves of this plant, historically used sparingly as a flavoring in cooking, for tea, or in potpourri due to their strong, sometimes bitter, aromatic quality.
Examples of Usage
- Noun:
- The recipe calls for a pinch of dried costmary in the soup.
- She grows costmary in her herb garden for making tea.
Advanced Usage
- Historical/Archaic Usage: Costmary was commonly used in medieval times as a "strewing herb" to freshen rooms and as a bookmark in Bibles, leading to its alternative name "Bible-leaf."
- In the monastery's garden, costmary was cultivated for both culinary and liturgical purposes.
Variants and Related Words
- Balsamita (n): The genus name sometimes used for costmary.
- Alecost (n): Another historical name for costmary, referring to its use in flavoring ale.
- Bible-leaf (n): A common name for costmary, stemming from its use as a fragrant bookmark.
Synonyms
- Mint geranium (archaic): An old-fashioned name for the plant.
- Herb: A general term under which costmary is categorized.
Notes on Meaning
The primary meaning refers to the specific herb plant and its leaves. Its usage is now largely historical or niche within herb gardening and traditional cooking, as its strong flavor is not common in modern mainstream cuisine. The connection to its use as a bookmark ("Bible-leaf") is a distinct cultural meaning.
Noun
- leaves used sparingly (because of bitter overtones) in sauces and soups and stuffings
- tansy-scented Eurasian perennial herb with buttonlike yellow flowers; used as potherb or salad green and sometimes for potpourri or tea or flavoring; sometimes placed in genus Chrysanthemum