- hollyhock (n.)
- mid-13c., holihoc, probably from holi "holy" (see holy) + hokke "mallow," from Old English hocc, a word of unknown origin. Another early name for the plant was caulis Sancti Cuthberti "St. Cuthbert's cole." Native to China and southern Europe, the old story is that it was so called because it was brought from the Holy Land.
