pothos
pothos Lexical Profile
pothos Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A popular tropical evergreen trailing vine (Epipremnum aureum, formerly classified under the genus Pothos) in the arum family (Araceae), native to French Polynesia and widely cultivated as a hardy houseplant for its glossy, heart-shaped leaves often variegated with yellow, white, or pale green.
"The golden pothos on the bookshelf has grown long, trailing vines that nearly reach the floor."
Any tropical climbing plant of the genus Pothos in the arum family (Araceae), native to southern and eastern Asia, Australia, and islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, bearing small, greenish or yellowish floral spadices subtended by a bract-like spathe.
In Greek mythology, the minor god and winged personification of longing, yearning, and amorous desire toward an absent or unattainable object, regarded as one of the Erotes and an attendant of Aphrodite.
"In classical Greek sculpture, Pothos is frequently depicted as a winged youth gazing upward in wistful contemplation."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed via Modern Latin from Ancient Greek 'póthos' (longing, desire), a name applied in classical antiquity to certain funeral flowers and later adapted from the Sinhalese name 'potha' by Carl Linnaeus for a genus of tropical climbing plants.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.