ProbableNamed from the place
cos lettuce
noun · first attested 17th century
One lettuce, named for a Greek island in Britain and for Rome in America.
A lettuce with long, upright, crisp-ribbed leaves, known in America as romaine.
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- ProbableThe conventional story is likely, with caveats.
- Attested
- 17th century
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Kos
- In English
cos lettuce
English gardeners took the name from Kos in the Aegean, where the plant was said to have been collected, while French and American usage credits Rome and the papal gardens instead. Neither route is firmly documented, and the lettuce probably reached Europe from Egypt and the Near East.
Also pinned to Kos
1 more from the same place
Greece
All 29 entries 27 more words from Greece
marathonThe long race is named for a plain in Attica.MarathoncurrantThe baking fruit is a worn-down word for Corinth.CorinthmagnetThe lodestone is named for Magnesia.MagnesiaacademyEvery academy is named for a grove outside Athens.AkademeialaconicA tight-lipped style is named for Sparta’s region.SpartaOlympicThe games are named for a sanctuary, not for Mount Olympus.OlympiaatticThe room under the roof is named for the region around Athens.AtticaBoeotianAn insult preserved from one Greek region's rivalry with another.Boeotia