Polygonum

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of many plants, of the family Polygonaceae, embracing a large number of species, including bistort, knotweed, smartweed, etc.

Etymology

From translingual Polygonum, from Ancient Greek πολύγονον (polúgonon, “knotweed”), from πολύς (polús, “many”) + γόνυ (gónu, “knee”), so called in allusion to the numerous joints, or neuter of πολύγονος (polúgonos, “prolific”), from πολύς (polús, “many”) + γόνος (gónos, “offspring”). Related to polygon (from γωνία (gōnía, “corner, angle”), a derivative of γόνυ (gónu)).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.