Pentas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Collections or arrangements consisting of five units or elements each
2. Things grouped or organized in sets of five, whether abstract or concrete
3. Aggregates or formations made up of five individual parts or members

Etymology: Pentas is the botanical name for a genus of flowering plants, and the name was given to the genus by scientists in the Linnaean tradition. Its form is taken from Greek "pente," meaning "five," a reference to the five-part structure that characterises the flowers, which typically have five petals fused into a star-shaped tube. The common name for the plants, Egyptian star-cluster, reflects the same starry shape. Because the word is a genus name, it belongs to the Latinised scientific vocabulary used to classify plants, so it was formed as a deliberate coinage rather than passing into everyday English through speech. Its meaning therefore rests on the Greek numeral that underlies it, and anyone who recognises "pent-" in words like "pentagon" or "pentathlon" is looking at the same root.