euphorbia

[yoo-fawr-bee-uh]

noun

any plant of the genus Euphorbia, comprising the spurges.

Origin of euphorbia

1350–1400; Middle English euforbia for Latin euphorbea, an African plant named after Euphorbos, a Greek physician

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for euphorbia

Contemporary Examples of euphorbia

And just below us, somewhere among the candelabra and euphorbia trees, were a handful of Diceros bicornis: the black rhino.
Borana Joins the Fight to Save Kenya’s Rhinos…and Wants You to Help Too
Joanna Eede
February 18, 2014

Historical Examples of euphorbia

Engelmann cites it in Triticum repens, Roëper in Euphorbia palustris.
Vegetable Teratology
Maxwell T. Masters
The milk-post of the pandal is made of milk-hedge (Euphorbia Tirucalli).
Castes and Tribes of Southern India
Edgar Thurston
At the same elevation Euphorbia pentagona makes its appearance.
Western Himalaya and Tibet
Thomas Thomson
There are caterpillars which eat the leaves of the Euphorbia, or spurge, for instance.
The Insect World
Louis Figuier
I noticed that it had been poisoned—poisoned by euphorbia juice.
Hair-Breadth Escapes
H.C. Adams

British Dictionary definitions for euphorbia

euphorbia

noun

any plant of the genus Euphorbia, such as the spurges and poinsettia: family Euphorbiaceae

Word Origin for euphorbia

C14 euforbia: from Latin euphorbea African plant named after Euphorbus, first-century ad Greek physician

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012