hortelám malavar

Macanese

Etymology

Literally, “Malabar mint”, possibly due to this species growing in the region of Malabar.

Noun

hortelám malavar

1. thick-leaved lavender (Anisochilus carnosus)

Usage notes

• Noted for its thick leaves, as opposed to hortelám di sopa which has thin leaves.
• Considered a variety of mint in Macanese and Portuguese, cf. Portuguese hortelã-de-folhas-grossas.

References

• https://www.macaneselibrary.org/pub/english/uipatua.htm#h
• Batalha, Graciete Nogueira (1988) “hortelão malavar”, in Glossário do dialecto macaense: notas linguísticas, etnográficas e folclóricas [Glossary of the Macanese dialect: linguistic, ethnographic and folkloric notes], Macau: Instituto Cultural de Macau, page 459