2169: Squash and Cucumber Nov 22, 2020

The Latin name word for New World squash—genus: Cucurbita—different to Old World version, Lagenaria. The African variety is called so because its primary use was as a flask, like the calabash, and in Latin the word for 'bottle' is 'lagena'. The word 'cucurbita' instead comes from the the same root "cucumis, cucumer-" that gave English 'cucumber'. This root however also led to the Persian ḵarbuz (‘melon’), and the German Kürbis (squash) so it is pretty varied. It may also be related to the Sanskrit चिर्भट (cirbhaṭa) for “long melon" hence the Persian word, and definitely the Latin 'corbis' (basket).