Sweetbriars

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of shrub belonging to the rose family, known for its fragrant and delicate flowers
2. Typically characterized by thorny stems and is often found in wild or hedgerow settings
3. Commonly associated with the charm of rustic gardens and the lushness of wildflower meadows

Etymology: Sweetbriars is simply the plural of "sweetbriar," so the story lies in the singular. "Sweetbriar" is a name for the sweet brier, a wild rose whose leaves give off a fragrance of apples when crushed. The "sweet" refers to that scent rather than to any taste, and "briar" comes from the same family of words as the thorny bramble that the older English term "brere" once named. Because the form is a plural, it describes a group of these shrubs rather than one plant, which is why it turns up so often in garden and hedgerow descriptions. The word has kept its literal sense, so it still points straight at the rose and its scented leaves.