2001-12-02 - 3:50 p.m.

pretty, i think.


(Word History: Although we associate tulips with Holland, both the flower and its name originated in the Middle East, where both are associated with turbans. Tulips were brought to Europe in the 16th century; the word tulip, which earlier in English appeared in such forms as tulipa or tulipant, came to us by way of French tulipe and its obsolete form tulipan or by way of Modern Latin tulpa, from Ottoman Turkish t�lbend, �muslin, gauze.� (Our word turban, first recorded in English in the 16th century, can also be traced to Ottoman Turkish t�lbend.) The Turkish word for gauze, with which turbans can be wrapped, seems to have been used for the flower because a fully opened tulip was thought to resemble a turban. 'o' )