[aroid-l] Etymology of AROID <= ARUM <= ARON

Well, I've lost the earlier comments now, but here's the gist:

A post noted that "aroid" derived from the Latin word "arum," which means lily.
Either the same post or a response said that "arum" derived from the Ancient Greek "aron" (which is where etymological comments end in most dictionaries).
Another post reasonably asked for the meaning of the Ancient Greek, "aron."

Now, this is me:

From what I find, the Latin "arum" was more specifically applied to one plant, the wake robin (Trillium erectum), the Ancient Greek word for which was "aron." Later, the Latin "arum" was generalized to include all lilies. Aroid, therefore, etymologically, means lily-like: "ar[um]" (lily) plus the suffix "-oid," which means "like or resembling."

There's my best effort. Oh, the thrill and inescapable lure of pedantry.

Ric



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