nutmeg

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 8, 2011 is: nutmeg • \NUT-meg\  • noun 1 : an aromatic seed produced by an evergreen tree (Myristica fragrans of the family Myristicaceae, the nutmeg family) native to the Moluccas; also : the ground seed used as a spice 2 : a tree yielding nutmeg Examples: Before I can make the pumpkin pie, I will need to go to the store to get cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. "She spices sweet potatoes with cinnamon and nutmeg and gives a pan of broccoli -- dressed with hardly anything more -- a quick trip in the oven." -- From an article by Jennifer Justus in The Tennessean, September 7, 2011 Did you know? Nutmeg is native to the Moluccas, Indonesian islands in the Malay Archipelago of Southeast Asia. The word "nutmeg," however, comes from Old Occitan, a Romance language spoken in southern France during the latter half of the Middle Ages. Old Occitan "noz muscada" combines "noz" ("nut"), from Latin "nuc-, nux," with "muscada," a feminine form of "muscat," meaning "musky." The history of "muscat" can in turn be traced back through Late Latin, Greek, and Middle Persian to a Sanskrit word meaning "mouse." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.