Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Amaranth |
AmaranthNoun1. Seed of amaranth plants used as a native cereal in Central and South America. 2. Any of various plants of the genus Amaranthus having dense plumes of green or red flowers; often cultivated for food. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "amaranth" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1615. (references) |
Etymology: Amaranth \Am"a*ranth\, noun. [Latin expression amarantus, Greek, unfading, amaranth; 'a priv. to quench, cause to wither, from root meaning to die, akin to English mortal; -- so called because its flowers do not soon wither: compare to the French expression amarante. The spelling with th seems to be due to confusion with Greek flower.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Amaranth Clement of Alexandria says - Amarantus flos, symbolum est immortalitatis. The word is from the Greek amarantos (everlasting). So called because its flowers never fade like other flowers, but retain to the last much of their deep blood-red colour. "Immortal amarant - a flower which once In Paradise, fast by the tree of life, Began to bloom; but soon, for man's offence, To heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life... With these, that never fade, the spirits elect Bind their resplendent locks." Milton: Paradise Lost iii. 353--61. In 1653 Christina, Queen of Sweden, instituted the Order of the "Knights of the Amaranth," but it ceased to exist at the death of the Queen. Among the ancients it was the symbol of immortality. The best known species are "Love lies bleeding" (amarantus caudatus), and "Prince's feather" (amarantus hypochondriacus). "Cock's comb" is now ranked under the genus Celosia. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
AMARANTH, or AMARANG (from the Gr. amarantos, unwithering), a name chiefly used in poetry, and applied to certain plants which, from not soon fading, typified immortality. Thus Milton (Paradise Lost, iii. 353) --
- "Immortal amarant, a flower which once
- In paradise, fast by the tree of life,
- Began to bloom; but soon for man's offence
- To heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows,
- And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life,
- And where the river of bliss through midst of heaven
- Rolls o'er elysian flowers her amber stream:
- With these that never fade the spirits elect
- Bind their resplendent locks."
It should be noted that the proper spelling of the word is amarant; the more common spelling seems to have come from a hazy notion that the final syllable is the Greek word anthos, "flower," which enters into a vast number of botanical names.
The plant genus Amaranthus (family Amaranthaceae) contains several well-known garden plants, such as love-lies-bleeding (A. caudatus), a native of India, a vigorous hardy annual, with dark purplish flowers crowded in handsome drooping spikes. Another species A. hypochondriacus, is prince's feather, another Indian annual, with deeply-veined lance-shaped leaves, purple on the under face, and deep crimson flowers densely packed on erect spikes. Amaranth wood has a unique dark purplish tone to it, and is used decoratively.
The leaves and seeds of Amaranthus species are edible: Amaranthus seed was one of the staple foodstuffs of the Incas, and it is known as kiwichi in the Andes today. The protein in the seed is particularly well suited to human nutritional needs, and interest in this crop (A. Cruentis and A. hypochondriaca) was revived in the 1970s.
"Globe amaranth" belongs to an allied genus, Gomphrena, and is also a native of India. It is an annual about 18 inches high, with solitary round heads of flowers; the heads are violet from the colour of the bracts which surround the small flowers.
In ancient Greece the amaranth (also called chrusanthemon and elichrusos) was sacred to Ephesian Artemis. It was supposed to have special healing properties, and as a symbol of immortality was used to decorate images of the gods and tombs. In legend, Amarynthus (a form of Amarantus) was a hunter of Artemis and king of Euboea; in a village of Amarynthus, of which he was the eponymous hero, there was a famous temple of Artemis Amarynthia or Amarysia (Strabo x. 448; Pausan. i. 31, p. 5).
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Amaranth."
Crosswords: Amaranth |
| English words defined with "amaranth": Amarant, Amarantaceous, amaranthine, Amarantus ♦ Flower-gentle ♦ Thrumwort. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "amaranth": Flowers and Trees. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "amaranth": Amarant. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Amaranth" is also a word in the following language with English translations in parentheses. Portuguese (amaranth, CI food red 9, E123). |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Netherlands | Examples include wheat, pulses (lentils, navy beans, azuki beans and mung beans), glutenous and basmati rice, wild rice, soybeans, amaranth, buckwheat, millet, tomato concentrate, dried fruits (raisins, prunes, apples), popcorn, almonds, sunflower seeds, alfalfa seeds, flax seed, animal feed and maple syrup. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Amaranth" is generally used as a noun (proper) -- approximately 98.16% of the time. "Amaranth" is used about 163 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (proper) | 98.16% | 160 | 24,760 |
| Noun (singular) | 1.84% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Total | 100.00% | 163 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "amaranth": amaranth family ♦ Globe amaranth ♦ purple amaranth ♦ red amaranth ♦ thorny amaranth. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "amaranth"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Arabic | نبتة خيالية لا تذبل, القطيفة. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | Амарант, Щир, Тъмночервен Цвят, 'ъображаемо Неугасващо Цвете. (various references) | |
Chinese | 白苋. (various references) | |
Danish | amaranttrae (blue wood, purpleheart), amaranth (CI food red 9), amarant (livid amaranth, wild blite), violettrae (blue wood, kingwood, purpleheart, violetta, violetwood), lufttrae (blue wood, purpleheart), E123 (CI food red 9), CI food red 9 (CI food red 9). (various references) | |
Dutch | amaranthus, amaranth, amarant (amaranthus), purperhart (blue wood, purpleheart), kattestaart (amaranthus), E123 (CI food red 9), CI food red 9 (CI food red 9), Bordeaux S (CI food red 9). (various references) | |
Finnish | amaranttipuut (blue wood, purpleheart), amarantti (CI food red 9, E123), E 123 (CI food red 9, E123). (various references) | |
French | amarante (amaranthine, amaranthus). (various references) | |
German | Fuchsschwanz (foxtail). (various references) | |
Greek | αμάραντος. (various references) | |
Hebrew | ירבוז. (various references) | |
Hungarian | Bársonyvirág. (various references) | |
Italian | amaranto (CI food red 9, common waxbill, E123, estrilda astrild). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 千日草 (globe amaranth), 千日紅 (globe amaranth). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | せ"にちそう (globe amaranth), せ"にち"う (globe amaranth). (various references) | |
Korean | 비름. (various references) | |
Manx | lus ny graih (drosera, sundew). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | amaranthay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | amaranto (amaranthus, cockscomb). (various references) | |
Romanian | Purpuriu Aprins (amaranthine), Nemuritoare, Floare Veşnicã, ştir. (various references) | |
Russian | щирица, Пурпурный Цвет, амарант (pigweed), Щирица. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | amarant, neuvenljiva biljka. (various references) | |
Spanish | Amaranto (CI food red 9, E123). (various references) | |
Swedish | amarant (CI food red 9, E123), Peltogyne-arter (blue wood, purpleheart), E 123 (CI food red 9, E123), CI food red 9 (CI food red 9, E123). (various references) | |
Turkish | Solmayan Çiçek, Mor (amaranthine, puce, purple, Violet), Horozibiği Çiçeği, Eflâtun (lavender, lilac, Plato). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | Амарант, Щириця. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | amaranthus, Peltogyne spp.. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "amaranth": amaranthine, amaranths. (additional references) | |
| |
"Amaranth" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Almirante, amadant, Amaranath, amaranti, Amarin, Amarintha, Amarnath, amorant, Anawratha, aramanth, aymaran, hamarat, Hamarlant, jamaran, macrantha. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "amaranth" (pronounced a"mera'nth) |
| 3 | -a' n th | coelacanth. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-a-h-m-n-r-t" | |
-1 letter: maranta. | |
-2 letters: amarna, ataman, mantra, tarama. | |
-3 letters: antra, arhat, atman, manat, manta, ratan, tharm. | |
-4 letters: amah, anta, atma, haar, hant, harm, hart, maar, mana, mart, math, rant, rath, tahr, tarn, than, tram. | |
-5 letters: aah, aha, ama, ana, ant, arm, art, ham, hat, man, mar, mat, nah, nam, nth, rah, ram, ran, rat, tam, tan, tar. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-a-h-m-n-r-t" | |
+1 letter: amaranths, harmattan. | |
+2 letters: harmattans. | |
+3 letters: amaranthine. | |
+4 letters: aerenchymata, charlatanism, humanitarian, parenchymata. | |
+5 letters: charlatanisms, handcraftsman, humanitarians, rhadamanthine, ultramarathon. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Commercial 4. Images: Slideshow | 5. Quotations: Non-fiction 6. Usage Frequency 7. Expressions 8. Expressions: Internet | 9. Translations: Modern 10. Translations: Ancient 11. Derivations 12. Rhymes | 13. Anagrams 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
