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sarsaparilla

sar·sa·pa·rilla

UK/ˌsɑːspəˈɹɪlə/ US/ˌsaspəˈɹɪlə/ rare

noun

1.

any of various prickly climbing plants of the tropical American genus Smilax having aromatic roots and heart-shaped leaves

Origin

From Spanish zarzaparrilla. The first element may ultimately derive from Basque; see Spanish zarza (“blackberry bush”) for more. The usual pronunciation of the first part of the word as /sæsp-/ or /sɑːsp-/ may be due to dissimilatory loss of the first of two r sounds (compare governor /ˈɡʌvənɚ/ and February /ˈfɛb.juˌɛɹi/). Occasionally this word is pronounced with a schwa between the s and the p, or without a schwa between the p and the r.

Phrases

  • bristly sarsaparilla
  • false sarsaparilla
  • Honduran sarsaparilla
  • Indian sarsaparilla
  • Jamaican sarsaparilla
  • Mexican sarsaparilla
  • native sarsaparilla
  • Para sarsaparilla

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.