Obs. [a. OF. sparage (= It. sparagio), ad. L. asparagus: cf. SPERAGE.] Asparagus. Also attrib.
1565. Cooper, Asparagus,… in English Sparage. Ibid., Corruda, an hearbe called wylde sparage.
1592. Nashe, P. Penilesse, Wks. (Grosart), II. 34. Yet am I not against it, that these men … should come to be sparage gentlemen & chuff-headed Burghomasters.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts (1658), 399. Sea Onions, Scammony, wilde Sparage.
1612. Peacham, Gentl. Exerc., III. ix. (1634), 151. Sparage, Fennell, and white Ellebore.
