Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A Eurasian perennial herb (Tanacetum balsamita syn. Chrysanthemum balsamita) in the composite family, having aromatic foliage sometimes used for potpourri, tea, or flavoring.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A perennial plant, Tanacetum Balsamita, of the natural order Compositæ, a native of the south of Europe, long cultivated in gardens for the agreeable fragrance of its leaves.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot.) A garden plant (
Chrysanthemum Balsamita ) having a strong balsamic smell, and nearly allied to tansy. It is used as a pot herb and salad plant and in flavoring ale and beer. Called alsoalecost .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
aromatic plant , of the genus Balsamita, once used to flavourale (prior to the use ofhops )
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun tansy-scented Eurasian perennial herb with buttonlike yellow flowers; used as potherb or salad green and sometimes for potpourri or tea or flavoring; sometimes placed in genus Chrysanthemum
- noun leaves used sparingly (because of bitter overtones) in sauces and soups and stuffings
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
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Examples
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We got some marjoram and basil, some tarragon and bay leaves, some chamomile and mint, and some costmary.
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We got some marjoram and basil, some tarragon and bay leaves, some chamomile and mint, and some costmary.
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Fennel-flower, which belongs to the natural order Ranunculaceæ, or crowfoot family, is a candidate for admission to the seed sodality; costmary and southernwood of the Compositæ seek membership with the leaf faction; rue of the
Culinary Herbs: Their Cultivation Harvesting Curing and Uses M. G. Kains
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Plants such as spearmint, lemon balm, English lavender, costmary and pennyroyal were used for making potpourri, warding away bugs and for "freshening the breath."
chained_bear commented on the word costmary
"Medieval cooks used aromatics that have since fallen from favour: borage with its hairy leaves that taste of cucumber or the medicinal costmary, also used to repel moths."
--Kate Colquhoun, Taste: The Story of Britain Through Its Cooking (NY: Bloomsbury, 2007), 54
January 7, 2017