''Holostheon'': <br />
 
''Holostheon'': <br />
 
Greek ὁλόστεον /holósteon/ is a compound of ὁλ- /hol-) the prevocalic compound form of ὅλος /hólos/ {“whole, entire”} + ὀστέον /ostéon/ {“bone”}, perhaps meaning “entirely {hard as} bone”. According to Pliny the name represents an antiphrasis, i.e. a word employed in a way that is opposite to its literal meaning, and therefore a kind of ironic name for a plant whose matter is apparently anything else but hard. <br />
 
Greek ὁλόστεον /holósteon/ is a compound of ὁλ- /hol-) the prevocalic compound form of ὅλος /hólos/ {“whole, entire”} + ὀστέον /ostéon/ {“bone”}, perhaps meaning “entirely {hard as} bone”. According to Pliny the name represents an antiphrasis, i.e. a word employed in a way that is opposite to its literal meaning, and therefore a kind of ironic name for a plant whose matter is apparently anything else but hard. <br />