1814, coined 1805 in Modern Latin as a genus name in honor of William Forsyth (1737-1804), Scottish horticulturalist who brought the shrub from China. The family name is from Gaelic Fearsithe "man of peace."

genus of the flea family, Modern Latin (Linnaeus, 1735), from Latin pulex "flea," from PIE*plou- "flea" (source also of Sanskrit plusih, Greek psylla, Old Church Slavonic blucha, Lithuanian blusa, Armenian lu "flea"). 

word-forming element meaning "generating, producing, yielding;" see -gen + -ous. In modern formations, making adjectives corresponding to words in -gen. In some older words, from Late Latin -genus, from Latin -gena "born" (for example indigenous).

genus of small evergreen trees, Old English, from Latin buxus, from Greek pyxos "box tree," which is of uncertain origin. Beekes suggests a loan-word from Italy, as that is where the tree is native. Compare box (n.1).

class of microscopic freshwater organisms, 1830, Modern Latin, from Rotifer, the genus name, (Leeuwenhoek, 1702), from Latin rota "wheel" (see rotary) + -fer "bearing" (from PIE root *bher- (1) "to carry"). The animalcules use rotary organs to swim about. Related: Rotiferal.

dinosaur genus, 1890, from Greek trikeratos "three-horned" + ōps "face," etymologically "eye," from PIE root *okw- "to see." The first element is from tri- "three" (see three) + keras (genitive keratos) "horn of an animal," from PIE root *ker- (1) "horn; head."

"deficiency of blood in a living body," alternative (chiefly U.S.) spelling of anaemia (q.v.); also see æ (1). As a genus of plants, Modern Latin, from Greek aneimon "unclad," from an- "without" (see an- (1)) + eima "a dress, garment" (see wear (v.)).

"jaundice," 1706, medical Latin, from Greek ikteros "jaundice," also the name of a yellowish bird the sight of which was supposed, by sympathetic magic, to cure jaundice (but the bird died). As a zoological genus (American orioles), from 1713.

"pertaining to or inhabiting water bordering coasts, down to 100 fathoms," 1891, from German neritisch (Haeckel, 1890), perhaps from Nerita, a genus of mollusks, from Greek nēritēs "sea-mussel," from Nērus, the sea-god (see Nereid). Compare benthos.

genus of small dinosaurs, 1868 (from 1859 in German), Modern Latin, from Greek kompsos "refined, elegant, to the point, cunning" (according to Beekes, probably of non-IE origin) + gnathos "jaw," from PIE root *genu- (2) "jawbone, chin."