† speragen.
Obsolete. attributive.1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Pois à visage,..Sperage Beanes, French Beanes,..Kidney Beanes.a1661 B. Holyday tr. Juvenal Satyres (1673) 77 Thy patrone's fish, Deck'd round with sperage-buds.
a. Asparagus.
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the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > stalk vegetables > [noun] > asparagus
asparagusc1000
speragec1440
sparagus1543
sparage1565
sperage1647
sparrowgrass1652
esparagrass1711
grass1723
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > stalk vegetables > asparagus
asparagusc1000
spergec1400
speragec1440
sparagus1543
sparage1565
garden sperage1577
sperage1647
sparrowgrass1652
c1440 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 558 Sperages seed..Is good to sowe hem with,..For cannes & sperage haue oon tylynge.
1545 Bibliotheca Eliotæ Asparagus, an herbe callyd of common Apotecaries Sparagus, in englishe Sperage.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 18v Sperage & such like, must be sowen in shaddowy places.
1620 T. Venner Via Recta vii. 150 Asparagus or Sperage is hot in the beginning of the first degree.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 99/2 Asparagus or Sperage... The Flowers are yellow, consisting of six leaves.
1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I Asparagus,..Sparagus or Sperage.
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 327 Spearage, see Asparagus.
b. With distinguishing adjectives.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > stalk vegetables > [noun] > asparagus
asparagusc1000
speragec1440
sparagus1543
sparage1565
sperage1647
sparrowgrass1652
esparagrass1711
grass1723
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > stalk vegetables > asparagus
asparagusc1000
spergec1400
speragec1440
sparagus1543
sparage1565
garden sperage1577
sperage1647
sparrowgrass1652
1545 Bibliotheca Eliotæ Corruda, an herbe called wylde sperage.
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. B.iijv It maye be called in englishe pricky Sperage, because it is all full of pryckes.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 122 The stalke is smooth, and resembleth garden Sperage.
1647 H. Hexham Copious Eng. & Netherduytch Dict. (Herbs) Spirage, spergel-kruydt. Wild Spirage, Wildt Spergel kruydt.
a1661 B. Holyday tr. Juvenal Satyres (1673) 214 Wild sperage too We'll have; my plow-man's wife her spindle threw Aside, to gather it.
1758 W. Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornwall 233 Marsh-asparagus or sperage, Asparagus palustris.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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