Notes on A Dictionary of American English, Parts I-VI

Abstract

THE EDITORS of the Dictionary of American English have collected so many novel and interesting words from various sources that I hesitate to suggest any additions to the marvelous store which they have provided. Perhaps they might have found room for the following: BASHFUL WAKE-ROBIN; also called Rosy Wake-robin (Trillium stylosum Nutt). A perennial herb growing in the woods from Georgia to Alabama and North Carolina as well as in the woods of the Piedmont region and adjacent areas. CHARA (NL.; cf. Lat. chara). A plant belonging to the family Characeae; also called featherbeds, stonewort, and horse watertail. It is remarkable as a producer of food for young fishes.1 CHERIMOYA, CHIRIMOYA, CHIRIMOYER. A small tree (Anona cherimolia Mill), a native of Peru; also the fruit of this tree. The name came into English from eighteenth-century Spanish chirimoya, the designation of the fruit. Though Middendorf does not record the Kechuan source, Lenz suggests that Sp. chirimoya is an adaptation of Kechuan chiri, 'cold,' and muyu, 'wheel,' 'circle'-literally 'cold, round fruit.'2 I have not been able to find Kechuan chirimoya, a form given in Webster (2nd). Cherimoya is used in Florida, especially in the southern part of the State.