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I was playing a spelling game and got this word. I tried looking it up on etymonline.com but I didn't get any search results? I assume it is from combining two English words, but I was wondering if anyone could produce a more specific answer?

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A minniebush is a type of shrub, found in some parts of the East Coast of the United States. Its Latin name is Menziesia pilosum, and it looks like this:

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The etymology of the name, from Merriam Webster is:

minnie- (irreg. fr. Archibald Menzies †1842 Scot. botanist) + bush

Since the plant was found by the botanist Archibald Menzies, both the scientific and common names for it are derived from his name.

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    Given that Menzies is pronounced 'mingis', how is Menziesia pronounced? Is it Mingisia? – z7sg Ѫ Jul 25 '11 at 23:26
  • @z7sg: I'm not a botanist, but Merriam Webster says that the pronunciation is \menˈzēzh(ē)ə\. – simchona Jul 26 '11 at 3:44

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