plumbago
plumbago Lexical Profile
plumbago Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Any of various tropical and subtropical flowering shrubs or herbs of the genus Plumbago (family Plumbaginaceae), widely cultivated as ornamental garden plants for their abundant terminal clusters of phlox-like blue, white, or red blossoms.
"The garden wall was draped in pale blue plumbago that bloomed throughout the warm summer months."
The mineral graphite, a crystalline form of carbon historically used for making pencils, crucibles, and polishing compounds.
"Before its carbon composition was understood, miners referred to the dark, lustrous deposit as plumbago."
• Rhymes for plumbago
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Latin plumbāgō, meaning 'lead ore' or a plant called 'leadwort', derived from plumbum ('lead'). The plant sense arose either from the lead-blue color of the flowers or the ancient belief that the plant could cure lead poisoning, while the mineral sense reflects the historical misconception that graphite was a form of lead.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.