Abelmosk

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈeɪbəlmɒsk/

Definitions

1. A tropical plant known for its musky-smelling seeds used in perfumes and flavoring
2. A flowering plant from warm regions that produces aromatic seeds often employed in scents and culinary uses
3. A species grown in tropical climates valued for seeds that emit a strong, sweet fragrance utilized in fragrances and cooking

Etymology: The plant's name is an Arabic phrase that means "pills of musk," which is a strange thing to call a flower. The seeds of the plant were prized for their musky fragrance, and the Arabic term "habb al-misk" (literally "seed of musk" or "pills of musk") was applied to them. Medieval Arabic and Persian writers used the phrase, and Europeans borrowed it through Neo-Latin scientific writing as "abelmoschus," the name taken up by botanists for the genus. In English the word came to name the plant itself, and the distortion from the Arabic is considerable. Speakers reshaped the unfamiliar Latinate form into something that resembled "Abel" and "musk," so the English spelling no longer resembles the original phrase. The result is a name that preserves the scent of the seeds in its second half while hiding its Arabic origin behind a Hebrew-sounding first syllable.