1820–30; < New Latin Erica, Latin < Greek ereíkē heath (plant), akin to Old Irish froech, Russian véres ( k )
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
We at length enjoyed the refreshing breeze in the beautiful region of the arborescent erica and fern; and we were enveloped in a thick bed of clouds stationary at six hundred toises above the plain.
From Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 1 by Ross, Thomasina
But to avoid conflict with Spain they sailed henceforth more to the northern shores of erica, and endeavoured to found colonies there.
From This Country of Ours by Marshall, H. E. (Henrietta Elizabeth)
A great group on the north of erica, epacris, and cryptomeria.
From Palaces and Courts of the Exposition by James, Juliet Helena Lumbard
Across from the erica is the red-berried cotoneaster horizontalis.
From Palaces and Courts of the Exposition by James, Juliet Helena Lumbard
Isis, arrayed in mourning robes like the wandering Demeter, sought Osiris everywhere lamenting, and found the chest at last in an erica tree that entirely covered it.
From Myth, Ritual And Religion, Vol. 2 (of 2) by Lang, Andrew
Erica Sandberg, a consumer advocate for Cardrates, said she can already see this sort of thing brewing in her own family.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
The off-Broadway company mounts Erica Murray’s moving drama about a mother mourning her adult son and the two women connected to him who show up at her home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
As per his wishes, his partner Jean-Pierre Goncalves de Lima and his great-nephew Richard Hockney were the only two mourners to attend his funeral, Hockney's publicist Erica Bolton said.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
“It’s a bit of a mystery. I have this feeling—is this the whole story?” said Erica Downs, a Columbia University scholar who has researched China’s oil refineries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
“Well, it was raining, so we stopped into E Motions. And Erica was there.”
From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee
He tore up a whole bunch of ericas, and gave them into the hand of the dying man, who gazed at him with eyes almost starting out of his head.
From Villa Eden: The Country-House on the Rhine by Auerbach, Berthold
I entreat you to have her grave carefully attended to, and to keep it strewn with her favorite flowers, ericas and pinks.
From Villa Eden: The Country-House on the Rhine by Auerbach, Berthold
Our route lay over a sort of moorland, sprinkled with rare ericas such as we carefully preserve in greenhouses at home.
From The Last Voyage to India and Australia, in the 'Sunbeam' by Pritchett, R. T. (Robert Taylor)
Forests of laurel, rhamnus, and arbutus, divide the ericas from the rising grounds planted with vines and fruit trees.
From Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 1 by Ross, Thomasina
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
