loosestrife

[loos-strahyf]

noun

1. any of various plants belonging to the genus Lysimachia, of the primrose family, having clusters of usually yellow flowers, as L. vulgaris garden loosestrife or L. quadrifolia whorled loosestrife.

2. any of several plants belonging to the genus Lythrum, of the loosestrife family.

loosestrife

/ ˈluːsˌstraɪf /

noun

1. any of various primulaceous plants of the genus Lysimachia, esp the yellow-flowered L. vulgaris ( yellow loosestrife ) See also moneywort

2. a purple-flowered lythraceous marsh plant, Lythrum salicaria

3. any of several similar or related plants, such as the primulaceous plant Naumburgia thyrsiflora ( tufted loosestrife )

Word History and Origins

Origin of loosestrife¹

1540–50; loose (v.) + strife, mistranslation of Latin lȳsimachīa (< Greek lȳsimáchei ( os ) + -a feminine noun suffix; lysi-, -machy ), plant said to be named after a certain Lysímachos; -ia

Word History and Origins

Origin of loosestrife¹

C16: _loose + _strife , an erroneous translation of Latin lysimachia, as if from Greek lusimakhos ending strife, instead of from the name of the supposed discoverer, Lusimakhos

Example Sentences

A single occurrence of, say, purple loosestrife, does not an invasion make.

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Purple loosestrife, an invasive flowering plant, is sprouting up - a problem that Rothman said will be resolved by galerucella beetles that were released in the area in the 1990s and that eat purple loosestrife.

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Purple loosestrife, an invasive flowering plant, is sprouting up — a problem that Rothman said will be resolved by galerucella beetles that were released in the area in the 1990s and that eat purple loosestrife.

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However, every plant depicted, from purple loosestrife to wild roses, is the product of more than three months of painstaking observation as Millais worked on the banks of the Hogsmill River in Surrey.

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The Montlake Fill became drier land overgrown by blackberries and loosestrife, and was later reclaimed.

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