Spadiceous
/spəˈdɪʃ.əs/noun
Having a brownish-yellow color, like a date palm spadix; in botany, bearing a spadix.
Did you know?Spadiceous comes from Latin spadix, a word for a palm shoot or date stalk, ultimately tied to the Greek spadix/spadix meaning a palm branch—so its ‘mystery color’ is literally botanical.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
spadix
“a palm branch or date palm shoot”
Latin
Latin
spadix
“a palm shoot; later, a reddish-brown color like a date palm”
Late Latin
Latin
spadic-
“forming adjectives and color terms derived from spadix”
18th Century
English
spadiceous
“brownish-yellow; having a spadix”
Modern English
English
spadiceous
“brownish-yellow, especially in botany; bearing a spadix”