Rhubarb

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɹuːbɑːb/

Definitions

1. A tart plant with thick reddish stalks that are cooked and eaten as a dessert, often paired with sugar to offset its sour taste
2. A perennial herb featuring tall, thick stalks that range in color from red to green and are often utilized in sweet culinary preparations
3. A type of plant characterized by its vibrant, thick stalks that are typically red and are commonly used in sweet dishes and desserts due to their tangy flavor profile

Etymology: Charles Kean, the English actor, ran the Princess's Theatre in London around 1852, and his company had a habit of muttering "rhubarb" over and over to mimic the murmur of a crowd or background conversation. The word was reportedly chosen because it has no harsh consonants or clear vowels, so it blurs into indistinct chatter. Actors still use the trick today when they need a convincing crowd noise. The plant name itself travelled a long way. It descends from Late Latin forms like "reubarbarum," which were built from a Greek phrase meaning "foreign rhubarb," with "barbarikon" meaning "foreign" or "barbaric." The Greeks had borrowed the root from a Persian-related word, and the plant came to the Mediterranean from Central Asia. In American baseball, the word took on a different use. The sportswriter Garry Schumacher is credited with coining the baseball sense, and the commentator Red Barber popularized it. Barber applied it to arguments on the field, where players were shouting over one another in a noisy, unintelligible mob.

Synonyms: vegetable, plant