mignonette
Jan. 14th, 2015 07:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordmignonette (min-yuh-NET) - n., any herb of the genus Reseda (of the family Resedaceae), especially a Mediterranean garden annual (R. odorata) with fragrant whitish-green flowers; grey-green colour, like that of the herb; another name for the henna plant (Lawsonia inermis); an ornamental succulent climbing vine (Anredera cordifoli) native to South America; a sauce made of minced shallots, cracked pepper, and vinegar served especially with oysters.
The herb is the best-known meaning in English, and the first to arrive from French, in the 1690s. In French, it's the diminutive of mignon, dainty, which goes back to Old French as mignot, still meaning dainty, of unknown origin.
---L.
The herb is the best-known meaning in English, and the first to arrive from French, in the 1690s. In French, it's the diminutive of mignon, dainty, which goes back to Old French as mignot, still meaning dainty, of unknown origin.
---L.
