vinca
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vin·ca
(vĭng′kə)n.
Any of various periwinkles of the genus Vinca or the closely related genus Catharanthus.
[New Latin Vinca, genus name, from Latin vinca (pervinca), periwinkle; see periwinkle2.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
vinca
(ˈvɪŋkə)n
(Plants) See periwinkle2
[New Latin, from Latin pervinca periwinkle]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
per•i•win•kle1
(ˈpɛr ɪˌwɪŋ kəl)n.
any of various small gastropod mollusks of the family Littorinidae, of intertidal waters.
[1520–30; perhaps reflecting (through assimilation to periwinkle2) Old English pīnewincle=pīne (< Latin pīna < Greek pîna, variant of pínna kind of mollusk) + wincle, c. dial. Dan vinkel snail shell]
per•i•win•kle2
(ˈpɛr ɪˌwɪŋ kəl)n.
any plant of the genus Vinca, of the dogbane family, esp. V. minor, having glossy evergreen foliage and usu. blue-violet flowers.
Also called myrtle. [before 1000; earlier pervinkle, perwinkle, alter. (see -le) of Middle English perwinke, pervinke < Anglo-French pervenke (Old French pervenche) < Late Latin pervinca, Latin vi(n)capervi(n)ca; compare Old English peruince, Middle High German ber(e)winke < Late Latin]
per′i•win`kled, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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| Noun | 1. |  Vinca - periwinkles: low creeping evergreen perennialsdicot genus, magnoliopsid genus - genus of flowering plants having two cotyledons (embryonic leaves) in the seed which usually appear at germination Apocynaceae, dogbane family, family Apocynaceae - chiefly tropical trees or shrubs or herbs having milky juice and often showy flowers; many are sources of drugs periwinkle - chiefly trailing poisonous plants with blue flowers |
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