A rough-textured bath sponge made from the dried fibrous interior of a tropical gourd; the plant that produces this natural sponge.
From Arabic lūfa, the name for the plant Luffa cylindrica and its fibrous interior used for bathing and cleaning. The word entered English in the 19th century through botanical and colonial sources as Europeans encountered this natural sponge in Arabic-speaking regions of North Africa and the Middle East. The plant and its Arabic name spread through trade networks.
This bathroom essential is actually a dried-up vegetable with its original Arabic name! Europeans discovered this amazing natural scrubber in Arabic markets and were so impressed they imported both the plant and its Arabic name rather than inventing their own term.
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