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pachysandra

[pak-uh-san-druh]
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noun
  1. any plant of the genus Pachysandra, as the Allegheny spurge or Japanese spurge, the leaves of which grow in a rounded clump, widely used as a ground cover in the U.S.
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Origin of pachysandra

1805–15; < New Latin: the genus name, irregular from Greek pachýs thick + Greek andr- (stem of anḗr man; see andro-) + -a -a2; so called in reference to the thick stamens of the male flowers
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Word Origin and History for pachysandra

n.

1813, from Modern Latin (1803), from Greek packhys "thick" (see pachyderm) + aner (genitive andros) "man" (see anthropo-), which is used in botany to mean "stamen, having stamens."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper