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broomrape

[ broom-reyp, broom- ]

noun

  1. any of various parasitic plants, especially of the genus Orobanche, living on the roots of broom and other plants.


broomrape

/ ˈbrʊm-; ˈbruːmˌreɪp /

noun

  1. any orobanchaceous plant of the genus Orobanche : brownish small-flowered leafless parasites on the roots of other plants, esp on legumes
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of broomrape1

1570–80; partial translation of Medieval Latin rāpum genistae tuber of the broom plant
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Word History and Origins

Origin of broomrape1

C16: adaptation and partial translation of Medieval Latin rāpum genistae tuber (hence: root nodule) of Genista (a type of broom plant)
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Example Sentences

Probing naked broomrape’s common and Latin names rapidly leads down the rabbit hole of the arcane.

The short version of the story is that “broomrape” is the partially translated 16th-century name of a genus of plants, Genista: European plants called brooms.

Ferment these oral ingredients in the cask of time and the result is the hideous common name, naked broomrape.

The plant bears some of the least attractive common names in the plant kingdom: Some know it as naked broomrape.

Last October, researchers at Pennsylvania State University reported that a broomrape plant had absorbed its host's genes 52 times.

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Broomfieldbroomrape family