This week’s interesting word is porraceous. I will buy an imaginary drink for anyone who knows what it means without looking it up – and a bonus imaginary packet of crisps if you have used it in everyday conversation.
Porraceous means ‘resembling a leek’. It is typically used to mean that something is leek-green in colour. (In many cases the something is vomit.)
It is early 17th century in origin, and stems from the Latin word porrāceus (itself from porrum meaning ‘leek’ and āceus meaning ‘of the nature of’).
“Martians, according to general sci-fi ethnobotany, are always small, hydrocephalic, intelligent, and seem a sort of porraceous green.”
– Alexander Theroux, The Secondary Colors, 1996
Isn’t the English language brilliant?
Sources:
Hannah McCall 
[…] My tip: leeks are green. And if you would like to describe something that resembles a leek, I have just the word: porraceous. […]
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I’m really bummed to have failed to earn an imaginary drink and crisps.
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You have really missed out. It’s the ultimate imaginary prize available at the imaginary pub.
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That is definitely a new one on me. I don’t know that I’ve ever described something as leek-green in color, but if I wanted to, I now have two ways to do it. 😉
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No, me neither. But now we have the perfect word for it when we do!
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