Mushroom

Mushroom

Noun / Verb · /ˈmʌʃ.ruːm/

Definition

(Noun) the fruiting body of a fungus, typically consisting of a stem and cap; a culinary fungus used as food; any of various fungi; (Verb) to grow or spread rapidly and suddenly, like mushrooms appearing overnight.

Origin

From Old French mousseron, from Late Latin mussirionem (a type of mushroom), of uncertain further origin — possibly from Frankish or Celtic, or from a pre-Latin substrate word. The word entering English in the 15th century. The word mushroom being used broadly for edible fungi and technically for the fruiting body of the Agaricales order, while toadstool is used colloquially for poisonous fungi — though the distinction is informal. The verb mushroomed meaning to expand rapidly being a 19th-century development from the speed of mushroom growth.