Culverkey

/ˈkʌlvərˌki/ noun

Definition

A plant name, possibly referring to a species of dock or sorrel plant (from culver, dove, plus key or 'ki,' possibly meaning seed or fruit).

Etymology

From culver (dove) plus key (possibly from Old English cæg, a plant name element, or referring to the plant's seed pods). This is a folk or common plant name of unclear exact botanical reference.

Kelly Says

Old plant names like culverkey are linguistic mysteries—we know it's named something about doves and something seed-like, but the exact plant it referred to has been lost to time because people stopped using the name when botanical Latin took over in the 1700s.

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