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hosta

[hoh-stuh, hos-tuh]
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noun
  1. any of various plants belonging to the genus Hosta, of the lily family, which includes the plantain lily.
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Origin of hosta

< New Latin (1797), after Nicolaus Thomas Host (1761–1834), Austrian botanist; see -a2
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for hosta

hosta

noun
  1. any plant of the liliaceous genus Hosta, of China and Japan: cultivated esp for their ornamental foliage
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Word Origin

C19: New Latin, named after N. T. Host (1761–1834), Austrian 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

Word Origin and History for hosta

n.

1828, plant genus of the lily family, coined 1812 in Modern Latin for Austrian physician and botanist Nicolaus Thomas Host (1761-1834).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper