plumbago

See also: Plumbago

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin plumbāgō (“type of lead ore”), from plumbum (“lead”).

Plumbago

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /plʌmˈbeɪɡəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /pləmˈbeɪɡoʊ/
• Rhymes: -eɪɡəʊ

Noun

plumbago (countable and uncountable, plural plumbagos or plumbagoes)

1. (botany) A plant of the genus Plumbago; leadwort. [from 17th c.]
2. (mineralogy, now chiefly historical) Graphite. [from 18th c.]

Synonyms

• graphite
• black lead

Derived terms

• plumbagin

Translations

leadwort

• Bulgarian: саркофай m (sarkofaj), зъбна трева f (zǎbna treva)
• Czech: olověnec
• Danish: blyrod m or c
• Dutch: loodkruid (nl) n
• Finnish: lyijykukka (fi)
• French: dentelaire (fr) f, plumbago (fr) f
• German: Bleiwurz f
• Ido: plumbago (io)
• Italian: piombaggine (it) f
• Polish: ołownica f
• Romansh: plombina f
• Spanish: belesa f
• Swedish: blyblomma c

graphite

• Bulgarian: графит (grafit)
• Finnish: grafiitti (fi)
• French: plombagine (fr) f, mine de plomb (fr) f, graphite (fr) m

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2026), “Plumbago”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “plumbago”, in Mindat.org, Keswick, Va.: Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2026.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin plumbāgō. See also plombagine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /plœ̃.ba.ɡo/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

plumbago m (plural plumbagos)

1. (botany) plumbago

   Synonym: dentelaire

Latin

Etymology

plumbum (“lead”) +‎ -āgō. The plant name is likely a calque of Ancient Greek μολύβδαινα (molúbdaina). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [pɫʊmˈbaː.ɡoː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [plumˈbaː.ɡo]

Noun

plumbāgō f (genitive plumbāginis); third declension

1. graphite
2. the color of graphite
3. leadwort

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	plumbāgō	plumbāginēs
genitive	plumbāginis	plumbāginum
dative	plumbāginī	plumbāginibus
accusative	plumbāginem	plumbāginēs
ablative	plumbāgine	plumbāginibus
vocative	plumbāgō	plumbāginēs

Related terms

• plumbārium
• plumbārius
• plumbātūra
• plumbātus
• plumbea
• plumbeum
• plumbeus
• plumbō
• plumbōsus
• plumbum

Descendants

• English: plumbago
• French: plombagine, plumbago
• Italian: piombaggine
• Spanish: plumbagina, plumbagíneo

References

• “plumbago”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “plumbago”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.