Plants & CreaturesGreek → English
Gypsophila
/dʒɪpˈsɒfɪlə/noun
A genus of plants with clouds of tiny white flowers, including baby's breath.
The Greek roots
γύψος
gúpsos
chalk, gypsum
φίλος
phílos
loving
Literally: “chalk-loving”
The story of the word
Linnaeus named it for where it grows: many species root in chalky and gypsum-rich soil that defeats other plants. Gupsos is itself a loanword into Greek from a Semitic source, and it travelled on into Latin gypsum and English gypsum board. Florists get through tonnes of the stuff every February, as filler around roses.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 18th century
Same family
gypsumphilosophybibliophilehydrophilic
In a sentence
The bouquet was three roses and a great deal of gypsophila.
Gypsophila thrives on the thin alkaline soil at the top of the garden.