Crocus…Croci…

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(taken by True Epicure in Columbus, Ohio)

I went looking for an online dictionary to confirm my suspicion that the plural of Crocus is Croci. It’s kind of a fascinating word, Crocus:

From the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.:

crocus

SYLLABICATION: cro·cus
PRONUNCIATION: krks
NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. cro·cus·es or cro·ci (-s, -k)

1a. Any of various perennial Eurasian herbs of the genus Crocus, having grasslike leaves and showy, variously colored flowers.

b. Any of several other plants, such as the autumn crocus.

2. A grayish to light reddish purple.

3. A dark red powdered variety of iron oxide, Fe2O3, used as an abrasive for polishing.

4. A coarse, loosely woven material like burlap, once used to make sacks for shipping saffron. See “gunnysack”.

ETYMOLOGY: Middle English, saffron, from Old French, from Latin, from Greek krokos; akin to perhaps from a source akin to Arabic kurkum, saffron.
I don’t think of Croci as herbs, but of course they are! Duh, me!

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