Echium
/ˈɛk.i.əm/noun
A genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae, including viper’s bugloss.
Did you know?Linnaeus named Echium from Ancient Greek ἔχις, meaning “viper,” likely inspired by the shape of the plant’s nutlets and traditional associations with snakebites.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
ἔχις (échis)
“Viper or venomous snake”
Classical Latin
Latin
echis
“A viper; a Latinized borrowing from Greek”
1753
Botanical Latin
Echium
“A plant genus established by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum”
18th Century
Scientific English
Echium
“The formal genus name for plants commonly associated with viper’s bugloss”
Modern English
English
echium
“Any flowering plant of the genus Echium, many species having vivid blue or purple flowers”