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poinsettia

Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first US minister to Mexico, sent cuttings of a red-leaved Mexican shrub home in 1828. American growers named it after him, and as the Christmas plant spread from US nurseries his name spread with it, to French, Italian, Polish, Japanese and Korean.

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The story you may have heard

Some say Poinsett discovered the plant. Mexicans had grown it for centuries (in Nahuatl it is cuetlaxochitl); Poinsett only introduced it to the United States.

The road to American English

From American English to French

From American English to Italian

From American English to Spanish

From American English to Polish

From American English to Japanese

From American English to Korean

1828American English

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

The road to American English

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