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aspidistra|æspɪˈdɪstrə|
[mod.L., f. Gr. ἀσπιδ-, ἀσπίς shield + -istra, after tupistra.]
A plant of the genus so called, belonging to the family Liliaceæ and native to China and Japan; frequently grown as a pot-plant, and often regarded as a symbol of dull middle-class respectability.
1822Bot. Register 628 Aspidistra lurida. Dingy-flowered Aspidistra. 1852G. W. Johnson Cott. Gard. Dict. s.v., The mushroom-shaped stigma by which Aspidistræ are characterised. 1920‘O. Douglas’ Penny Plain iii, An aspidistra in a pot completed the table decorations. 1925W. Deeping Sorrell & Son iv. i, Carrying out the aspidistras and washing them in the yard. 1936‘G. Orwell’ (title) Keep the aspidistra flying.
¶ Illiterate forms were formerly frequent.
1895Daily News 4 Dec. 6/7 The broad leaves of the aspidestria. 1899Westm. Gaz., They are just moderate-sized palms, ferns, and aspidestra.
Hence aspiˈdistral a., of or pertaining to an aspidistra; abounding in aspidistras. Also transf.
1936‘G. Orwell’ Keep Aspidistra Flying iii. 73 He was a made man—or, by Smilesian, aspidistral standards, un⁓made. Ibid. viii. 198 Why chew leathery beef in the aspidistral dining-room when he had ten quid in pocket? Ibid. x. 270 Flaxman's wife had forgiven him, and he was back at Peckham, in aspidistral bliss. 1939R. Campbell Flowering Rifle i. 13 The weed of Life that grows where air is hot With ‘Meetings’ for its aspidistral pot. |