saxifrage
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
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
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Digging, he hits rock: “That’s OK - in Latin saxifrage means rock-breaker.”
From BBC ● May 24, 2024
Retail prices range from $19.50 an ounce for common native grasses to $443.63 for harder-to-grow species such as wholeleaf saxifrage and Henderson’s shooting star.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2023
Springy moss, purple and yellow saxifrage, and a type of buttercup stay within centimetres of the ground.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 28, 2018
Desiccated husks of spring wildflowers — saxifrage, penstemon and daisy — crunched underfoot.
From New York Times ● Jun. 14, 2013
And in confirmation, a little Arctic flower, a purple saxifrage, blossomed improbably where the witch had planted it as a signal in a cranny of the rock.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
