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Origin and history of Wisteria

Wisteria(n.)

also Wistaria, genus of woody vines, 1819, formed by Thomas Nuttall, English botanist, and named in recognition of American anatomist Caspar Wistar (1761-1818) of Philadelphia + abstract noun ending -ia. The form in -e- apparently is a misprint. The Wistar Institute was founded in 1892 by his great-nephew and named for him.

also from 1819

Entries linking to Wisteria

-ia

word-forming element in names of countries, diseases, and flowers, from Latin and Greek -ia, noun ending, in Greek especially used in forming abstract nouns (typically of feminine gender); see -a (1). The classical suffix in its usual evolution (via French -ie) comes to Modern English as -y (as in familia/family, also -logy, -graphy). Compare -cy.

In paraphernalia, Mammalia, regalia, etc. it represents Latin or Greek -a (see -a (2)), plural suffix of nouns in -ium (Latin) or -ion (Greek), with formative or euphonic -i-.

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    vein
    c. 1300, from Old French veine "vein, artery, pulse" (12c.), from Latin vena "a blood vessel," also "a water course, a vein of metal, a person's natural ability or interest," of unknown origin. The mining sense is attested in English from late 14c. (Greek phleps "vein" had the sa
    vine
    c. 1300, "plant which bears the grapes from which wine is made," from Old French vigne "vine, vineyard" (12c.), from Latin vinea "vine, vineyard," from vinum "wine," from PIE *win-o- "wine," an Italic noun related to words for "wine" in Greek, Armenian, Hittite, and non-Indo-Euro
    dilemma
    1520s in rhetoric (see below), from Late Latin dilemma, from Greek dilemma "double proposition," a technical term in rhetoric, from di- "two" (see di- (1)) + lemma "premise, anything received or taken," from root of lambanein "to take" (see lemma). A form of argument in which it
    innovation
    mid-15c., innovacion, "restoration, renewal," from Late Latin innovationem (nominative innovatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of innovare "to change; to renew," from in- "into" (from PIE root *en "in") + novus "new" (see new). Meaning "a novel change, experimental v
    Albuquerque
    city in New Mexico, founded 1706 and named for Spanish administrator and viceroy of Mexico Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, Duque de Alburquerque (1617-1676); the name subsequently was altered by association with Portuguese hero Alfonso d'Albuquerque (1453-1515), the "Portuguese
    shambles
    "meat or fish market," early 15c., from schamil "table, stall for vending" (c. 1300), from Old English scamol, scomul "stool, footstool" (also figurative); "bench or stall in a market on which goods are exposed for sale, table for vending." Compare Old Saxon skamel "stool," Middl
    cherub
    late 14c. as an order of angels, from Late Latin cherub, from Greek kheroub, from Hebrew kerubh (plural kerubhim) "winged angel," which according to Klein is perhaps related to Akkadian karubu "to bless," karibu "one who blesses," an epithet of the bull-colossus. Old English had
    satellite
    1540s, "follower or attendant of a superior person" (but rare in this sense before late 18c.), from French satellite (14c.), from Latin satellitem (nominative satelles)  "an attendant" upon a distinguished person; "a body-guard, a courtier; an assistant," in Cicero often in
    penny
    English coin, Middle English peni, from Old English pening, penig, Northumbrian penning "penny," from Proto-Germanic *panninga- (source also of Old Norse penningr, Swedish pänning, Danish penge, Old Frisian panning, Old Saxon pending, Middle Dutch pennic, Dutch penning, Old High
    carbohydrate
    general name for a group of organic compounds consisting of carbon atoms in multiples of 6 and hydrogen and oxygen in the proportion of water, 1851, from carbo-, combining form of carbon, + hydrate (n.), denoting compound produced when certain substances combine with water, from

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