jonah's gourd
Preserved but no longer current.
This plant (see Jonah iv, 6-10), the Heb. kikayon, was probably the Palma Christi, called in Egypt kiki. Niebuhr speaks of a specimen which he himself saw near a rivulet, which in October "rose eight feet in five months* time." And Volney says, "Wher- ever plants have water the rapidity of then- growth is prodigious. In Cairo," he adds, "there is a species of gourd which in twenty- four hours will send out shoots four inches long.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “jonah's gourd” mean?
This plant (see Jonah iv, 6-10), the Heb. kikayon, was probably the Palma Christi, called in Egypt kiki. Niebuhr speaks of a specimen which he himself saw near a rivulet, which in October "rose eight feet in five months* time." And Volney says, "Wher- ever plants have water the rapidity of then- growth is prodigious. In Cairo," he adds, "there is a species of gourd which in twenty- four hours will send out shoots four inches long.
Is “jonah's gourd” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.