amaracus

English

Etymology

From Latin amāracus.

Noun

amaracus (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Marjoram.
   • 1842, Tennyson, “Oenone”, in The Lady of Shallot and other poems:

     Then to the bower they came, / Naked they came to that smooth-swarded bower, / And at their feet the crocus brake like fire, / Violet, amaracus, and asphodel, / Lotos and lilies: and a wind arose, / And overhead the wandering ivy and vine, / This way and that, in many a wild festoon / Ran riot, garlanding the gnarled boughs / With bunch and berry and flower thro' and thro'.

Further reading

• “amaracus”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “amaracus”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• caramusa

Latin

Alternative forms

• amāracum

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀμάρακος (amárakos), ἀμάρακον (amárakon). Possible doublet of marathrum, marum, marrubium, and maiōrana.

Noun

amāracus m (genitive amāracī); second declension

1. marjoram (Origanum majorana)

Usage notes

• Identification with Origanum majorana is uncertain, but O. m. var tenuifolium, native to Cyprus fits Pliny's description especially well. Other species of Origanum, such as O. onites, are possible.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	amāracus	amāracī
genitive	amāracī	amāracōrum
dative	amāracō	amāracīs
accusative	amāracum	amāracōs
ablative	amāracō	amāracīs
vocative	amārace	amāracī

Derived terms

• (Medieval Latin): maiorana, majorana

Descendants

• → Catalan: amàrac (learned)

References

• “amaracus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “amaracus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• amaracus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “amaracus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers