Brome

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of grass found in temperate regions, often utilized for forage and soil erosion control
2. a genus of grasses known for their adaptability in various environments
3. a plant species valued for its nutritional properties and ability to thrive in diverse climates

Etymology: The grass name carries a stink in its ancestry. Ancient Greek had two words that look alike: "brómos", meaning oat or wild oat, and "brômos", meaning stink. The two sit side by side in the source records, and the Greek grass name for oats was the one that gave rise to the botanical genus Bromus, which Latin-writing botanists later adopted as New Latin. Oats and a bad smell are not an obvious pairing, and the source does not explain how the two meanings came to be linked, so the connection between the two Greek words remains unclear. English took the word from French "brome", which was formed directly from the Greek "brômos" meaning stink, rather than from the grass name. The result is a doublet: the English word "brome" and the botanical "Bromus" come from the same Greek source but reached English by different routes, one through French and one through scientific Latin. The Greek sense of stink is the origin of the French word, even though the modern meaning is entirely a grass.