spinach
(ˈspɪnɪdʒ, -ɪtʃ)
Forms: α. 6 spynnage, spenege, 7–9 spinnage, 6–9 spinage. β. 6 spynache, spinech, 6–7 spinache, 6– spinach.
[ad. OF. espinage, (e)spinache (also -ace), = Catal. espinach, Sp. espinaca, It. spinace, Roum. spenac, med.L. spinachia (-achium), spinacia (-acium), of doubtful origin. Cf. MDu. spinage, -agie, -aetse (Du. spinazie, Flem. spinagie), LG. spinase, -axe, obs. G. spinacie, -asche, G. dial. spinaz, MHG. and G. spinat (whence Da. spinat, Sw. spenat).
The difficult problem of the ultimate origin of the word is complicated by variation of the ending in the Romanic languages. In addition to espinache, -age, OF. had also espinoche (still in dial. use), -oce, = med.L. spinochia, and espinarde, espinar (F. épinard), = Prov. espinarc, med.L. spinarium, -argium. Pg. exhibits the further variant espinafre. By older writers the stem of these forms was supposed to be L. spīna, in allusion to the prickly seeds of a common species. De Vic considers the various forms to be adoption of Arab isfināj, Pers. isfānāj, ispānāk, aspanākh (Richardson), but it is doubtful whether these are really native words. It is difficult to explain either the Romanic or the Oriental forms from the synonymous Hispanicum olus recorded from the 16th cent. and represented by older F. herbe d'Espaigne (Cotgrave).]
1. a. A plant (Spinacia oleracea) belonging to the N.O. Chenopodiaceæ, extensively cultivated for culinary purposes; the succulent leaves of this plant used as a vegetable.
| α 1530 Palsgr. 274 Spynnage an herbe, espinars. 1568 Turner Herbal iii. 71 Spinage or spinech is an herbe lately found and not long in use. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. i. xvi. (1674) 18 Gardners might know Nettles and Henbane, from Spinnage and Lettice. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet in Aliments, etc. I. 249 Spinage emollient, but not very nourishing. 1774 Goldsmith Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 4 The grass has the appearance of boiled spinage. 1808 Med. Jrnl. XIX. 38 Neither boiled spinage, nor succory, possess this quality. 1861 Bentley Man. Bot. 623 Some are used as pot-herbs, as Spinage. |
| β 1538 Turner Libellus, Seutlomalochon,..a nostris spynache nominatur. 1568 [see above]. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 556 This pot-herbe, or rather Salet herbe, is called..Spinache. 1671 Salmon Syn. Med. iii. xxii. 433 Spinach..is used in sallads,..and helps inflamations..of the Stomach. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physick (1762) 71 Eat largely of Spinach. 1791 Boswell Johnson 11 Apr. 1773, We had a very good soup, a boiled leg of lamb and spinach. 1839 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. i. Lay St. Dunstan, St. Dunstan himself sits there..eating poach'd eggs with spinach and toast. 1883 Cassell's Fam. Mag. Sept. 593 The winter spinach must next be thinned out. |
b. With distinguishing epithets denoting varieties of the common garden spinach.
| 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme ii. xix. 226 Spinage (so called bicause his seede is prickly) is of two sorts, the male and the female. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Spinachia, The common prickly or narrow-leav'd Spinach. Ibid., Common smooth-seeded Spinach. Ibid., These Male Plants are by the Gardeners commonly called She Spinach. 1763 Mills Syst. Pract. Husb. IV. 89 The oblong oval leaved spinage, commonly called plantain spinage. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 656 There are three varieties, the round-seeded,..the Flanders spinach,..and the prickly-seeded, or common winter spinach. |
c. Applied (with distinguishing terms) to other species of
Spinacia, or to plants in some way resembling or taking the place of this, as
Australian spinach,
† Cretic spinach,
French spinach,
mountain spinach,
New Zealand spinach,
perennial spinach,
strawberry spinach,
wild spinach (see
quots.).
| 1866 Treas. Bot. 267/2 *Australian spinach (Chenopodium erosum). 1874 Ibid. Suppl. 1343/2 Spinach, Australian, Chenopodium auricomum. 1889 J. H. Maiden Usef. Pl. 16 Chenopodium murale,..Australian Spinach. |
| 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Spinachia, The procumbent *Cretic spinach. |
| 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 657 The orache, or *French spinach..is a chenopodiaceous polygamous annual. |
| 1822 Loudon Encycl. Gard. 714 The Orach, or *Mountain Spinach, Atriplex hortensis. 1866 Treas. Bot. 108/2 The Garden Orache, or Mountain Spinach,..[is] a native of Tartary. |
| 1824 Loudon Encycl. Gard. (ed. 2) 637 *New Zealand Spinach, Tetragonia expansa. 1849 Balfour Man. Bot. §881 Some of them [ficoids] are used as articles of diet, as the leaves of..New Zealand Spinach. |
| 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 657 The *perennial spinach..is a chenopodiaceous perennial, a native of Britain. |
| 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 328 *Strawberry Spinach, Blitum. |
| c 1710 Petiver Cat. Ray's Eng. Herbal Tab. vii, *Wild Spinage. 1790 W. H. Marshall Rur. Econ. Midl. II. 443 Spinage, wild,..goosefoot. 1867 Baker Nile Trib. viii, There are several varieties of wild spinach. |
2. ellipt. As a moth-name.
| 1832 J. Rennie Consp. Butterfl. & Moths 123 The Spinach (E. Spinachiata, Stephens) appears in July. 1896 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. VI. 117 The little moth..known as the dark spinach (Larentia chenopodiata). |
3. a. In allusive use (
cf. gammon n.4 3).
The words
gammon and spinage are part of the refrain to the song ‘A frog he would a-wooing go’.
| 1850 Dickens Dav. Copp. xxii, ‘What a world of gammon and spinnage it is, though, ain't it!’ |
b. Nonsense, rubbish.
U.S. colloq. (now
rare).
| [1928 C. Rose in New Yorker 8 Dec. 27/2 (caption) ‘It's broccoli dear.’ ‘I say it's spinach, and I say the hell with it.’] 1929 J. P. McEvoy Hollywood Girl xiii. 205 It's a flop and then I says to him, in other words I say it's spinach and I say to hell with it. 1933 E. Hawes (title) Fashion is spinach. 1934 A. Woollcott While Rome Burns 304 This..reticence..will..be described by certain temperaments as..good taste... I say it's spinach. 1950 R. P. Bissell Stretch on River xxi. 207 ‘It's a transferral of intent. It's a result of childhood trauma. It's Oedipus denial,’ said my sister-in-law, who was beautiful, thank god, so you could put up with this spinach. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
spinach-coloured,
spinach-like adjs.,
spinach-plant,
spinach-seed;
spinach beet (see
quots.);
= silver beet s.v. silver n. and a. 21 e;
spinach-green, (
a) a dark green vegetable dye made from spinach; (
b) a dark green colour; also
attrib. or as adj.;
spinach jade (see
quot. 1964); also
attrib.;
spinach moth (see
quot.);
spinach-stool, an evacuation of the colour of spinach.
| 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 658 The *spinach beet, leaf beet, or white beet, Beta cicla,..a native of the sea-shores of Spain and Portugal. 1885 W. Robinson tr. Vilmorin-Andrieux's Veg. Garden 279 The leaves of the Common White Leaf-Beet, or Spinach Beet, may be cut for use even earlier. 1978 Times 17 July 14/3 The experts recommend growing Swiss chard, otherwise known as spinach beet. |
| 1843 Thackeray Jerome Paturat Wks. 1900 XIII. 393 A certain Oscar,..who paints *spinach-coloured landscapes. |
| 1845 E. Acton Mod. Cookery xx. 508 (heading) *Spinach green, for colouring sweet dishes. 1861 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 250 (heading) Spinach green for colouring various dishes... Pick and wash the spinach free from dirt, and pound the leaves in a mortar to extract the juice; [etc.]. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 7 May 3/1 A neckband of rich bright colour, cerise velvet or perhaps orange or spinach green. 1937 Burlington Mag. June 300/2 A fine example of the bold relief of the K'ang-hsi period is a bowl of spinach-green nephrite. 1943 R. Godden Rungli-Rungliot 4 The engine..was painted a spinach-green. 1968 ‘J. Ross’ Diminished by Death xvii. 163 A figured silk confection in spinach green. 1975 Times 31 May 7/2 His former employers ought to be spinach-green with envy. 1980 Catal. Fine Chinese Ceramics (Sotheby, Hong Kong) 210 A spinach-green jade covered censer, raised on tripod supports. |
| 1958 W. Willetts Chinese Art I. ii. 61 Siberian jade has a rather distinctive appearance owing to the presence of small particles of black graphite embedded in the stone, which leads the Chinese to call it ‘*spinach jade’. 1964 M. Medley Handbk. Chinese Art 108/2 Spinach jade, in Chinese po-ts‘ai-yü; a nephrite from Siberia characterised by black flecks of graphite. 1976 ‘M. Delving’ China Expert xii. 158 Mei was wearing a ch'i pao of dark grey silk..fastened up to the neck with spinach jade buttons. |
| 1886 P. Robinson Teetotum Trees 123, I suddenly became aware of a peculiar circular movement in one of the *spinach-like plants. |
| 1887 Cassell's Encycl. Dict. s.v., Northern *spinach-moth,..Cidaria populata, a British geometer-moth. |
| 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 657 It has been more or less in culture as a *spinach plant since the beginning of the present century. |
| 1763 Mills Syst. Pract. Husb. IV. 89 The best way for those who have ground enough, is to sow their *spinage seeds alone. |
| 1888 Goodhart Dis. Children (ed. 3) iv. 74 The *spinach stool has commonly been said to be due to altered blood. |