sabdariffa

sabdariffa

1. Hibiscus sabdariffa, the roselle, a Hibiscus species native to the Old World tropics.
   • 1850, Fanny Parkes Parlby, Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque, page 316:

     The bark of the hibiscus cannabinus (hemp-leaved hibiscus), as well as that of the sabdariffa is made into cordage.

16th-century coinage of uncertain origins. Thought by some to come from a Jamaican word, and by others from a Turkish word.

sabdariffa f (genitive sabdariffae); first declension

1. Hibiscus sabdariffa, the roselle, a Hibiscus species native to the Old World tropics.
   • 1576, Matthias de Lobel (1538–1616), Plantarum Seu Stirpium Historia, page 375:

     Sabdariffa. Huc spectat perelegans & noua planta, quam quidam Sabdariffam vocãt. (Let us consider this very elegant and new plant that some call Sabdariffa.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

First-declension noun.