saxifrage
[sak-suh-frij]
- any plant of the genus Saxifraga, certain species of which grow wild in the clefts of rocks, other species of which are cultivated for their flowers.
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Compare saxifrage family.
Origin of saxifrage
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin saxifraga (herba) stone-breaking (herb), equivalent to saxi-, combining form of saxum stone + -fraga, feminine of -fragus breaking; see fragile
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for saxifrage
Historical Examples
Is there a legend in connexion with this name; and in what county is this saxifrage so called?
You won't feel at all lonely if you have the companionship of the saxifrage.
Katharine FrenshamBeatrice Harraden
She was content, too, and had forgotten about the saxifrage.
Katharine FrenshamBeatrice Harraden
The saxifrage and bloodroot might, of course, have been seen a week earlier.
In the OpenStanton Davis Kirkham
They include a saxifrage, a mallow, a valerian, and several Composit.
saxifrage
- any saxifragaceous plant of the genus Saxifraga, characterized by smallish white, yellow, purple, or pink flowers
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Word Origin
C15: from Late Latin saxifraga, literally: rock-breaker (probably alluding to its ability to dissolve kidney stones), from Latin saxum rock + frangere to break
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for saxifrage
n.
type of plant typically found in cold regions, late 14c., from Old French saxifrage (13c.), from Late Latin saxifraga, name of a kind of herb, from Latin saxifraga herba, literally "a rock-breaking herb," from saxifragus "stonebreaking," from saxum "stone, rock" + frag-, root of frangere "to break" (see fraction). Pliny says the plant was so called because it was given to dissolve gallstones, but a more likely explanation is that it was so called because it grows in crevices in rocks. (Latin used different words for "stone" and "gallstone" -- saxum and calculus). Related: Saxifragaceous.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper