spearmint (n.)

1530s, from spear (n.2) + mint (n.1). "Said to be a corruption of spire-mint, with reference to the pyramidal inflorescence" [Century Dictionary].

Entries linking to spearmint

spear (n.2)

"sprout of a plant," 1640s, earlier "church spire" (c. 1500); variant of spire (n.).

mint (n.1)

aromatic herb, plant of the genus Mentha, Old English minte (8c.), from West Germanic *minta (source also of Old Saxon minta, Middle Dutch mente, Old High German minza, German Minze), a borrowing from Latin menta, mentha "mint," itself from Greek minthe, personified as a nymph transformed into an herb by Proserpine, which is probably a loan-word from a lost Mediterranean language. For mint-julep, see julep.

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Definitions of spearmint

spearmint (n.)

common garden herb having clusters of small purplish flowers and yielding an oil used as a flavoring;

Synonyms: Mentha spicata

From wordnet.princeton.edu

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