bezoar
(ˈbiːzɔə(r), ˈbɛzəʊɑː(r))
Forms: 6 besert, bezer, 6–7 bezahar, 6–8 bezaar, bezar, 7 besohard, besar, beazar, beazer, bazar, bezor, beazoar, bezaor, boezar, 8 besaar, bezard, 7–9 -oard, -oart, 7– bezoar.
[Like mod.L. bezahar, bezaar, bezoar (bezardicum, lapis bezoarticus), Sp. bezaar, bezar, bezoar, F. bezahar, bezar, bezoar, bezoard, ad. Arab. bāzahr or bādizahr, ad. Per. pād-zahr counter-poison, antidote, bezoar stone; f. zahr poison. In 17th c. Eng., as in F. and Sp., bezahar, bezaar was reduced to two syllables, bezar, beazar, beazer (ˈbeːzər), of which the mod. pronunc. would be regularly (ˈbiːzə(r)). The spelling bezoar (for bezaär) appears to be of mod.L. origin; it has influenced the pronunciation given in dictionaries since the end of last century.]
† 1. gen. A counter-poison or antidote. Obs. (In later writers taken as a fig. use of sense 2 a: hence, also, bezoar-stone.)
| 1597 Gerard Herbal ii. cclxxiv. (1633) 969 This root Anthora is the Bezoar or counterpoison to that Thora. 1607 Topsell Serpents 775 The juice of Apples being drunk, and Endive, are the proper Bezoar against the venom of a Phalangie. 1637 Earl of Monmouth Rom. & Tarquin 208 Valour is a kinde of Besar, which comforts the hearts of subjects, that they may the better endure a Tyrants venome. 1750 tr. Leonardus' Mirr. Stones 78 Every Thing that frees the Body from any Ailment, is called the Bezoar of that Ailment. |
| b. 1658 Rowland Mouffet's Theat. Ins. 929 A Hornet is the Bezoar stone for its own wound. |
2. Various substances formerly held as antidotes: spec. a. A calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of some animals, chiefly ruminants, formed of concentric layers of animal matter deposited round some foreign substance, which serves as a nucleus. Often called bezoar-stone. (The ordinary current sense.)
The original sort was the lapis bezoar orientale, obtained from the wild goat of Persia and various antelopes, etc.; the lapis bezoar occidentale, obtained from the lamas of Peru, was less valued; the chamois yielded German bezoar.
| 1580 Frampton Joyf. News 126 The stone is called the Bezaar, beyng..approved good against Venome. 1585 in Nichols Progr. Q. Eliz. II. 420 Item, a besert stone. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 230 Diuisible into many shels or huskes like a Bezoar stone. 1622 R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 74 The becunia, and other beasts, which breed the beazer stone. 1638 Shirley Mart. Soldier iii. iv. in Bullen O. Pl. (1882) I. 217 A true rare Quintessence Extracted out of Orientall Bezar. 1670 J. Narbrough in Burney Discov. S. Sea iii. xiii. (1813) 333, I had his [a guanaco's] paunch opened to search for the Bezoar stone. 1749 Phil. Trans. XLVI. 120 Rhinoceros-Bezoars, which I supposed were taken out of the Stomach or Guts of that large Animal. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1862) I. ii. iii. 307 The concretion sometimes found in the stomach of these animals [the chamois], called the German Bezoar. 1849 Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. IV. 85/1 The oriental bezoard, a resinous intestinal calculus. 1882 Catal. Museum St. Barthol. Hosp. I. 542 (No. 293) Section of a Bezoar, composed chiefly of Pinic Acid. Its nucleus is a date-stone. |
† b. Alleged stones or concretions of various kinds. (Usually due to ignorance of the origin of the prec.) Obs.
| 1477 Norton Ord. Alch. in Ashm. v. (1652) 72 Bezoars of the Mine. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. v. ix. (ed. 7) 550 This stone Bezar groweth in a concavity in manner of a girdle about two handfull long and three inches broad. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 100 The hart..sendeth forth certain tears, which are turned into a stone called ‘bezahar.’ 1618 Rep. E. Ind. Comp. in Jas. Mill Brit. India I. i. ii. 23 On the island of Borneo, diamonds, bezoar stones, and gold, might be obtained. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 358 The soil..uberous in rich Stones, as Diamonds, Chrysolites, Onyx, Magnets and Bezoars. |
† c. Applied to various medicinal preparations.
| 1706 Phillips, Bezoar Minerale, a Chymical Preparation of Butter of Antimony. Ibid., Bezoar-Animale, the Livers and Hearts of Vipers dry'd in the Sun and powder'd. 1710 T. Fuller Pharm. Extemp. 309. 1807 Aikin Dict. Chem., Bezoard Mineral is a perfect oxyd of Antimony. |
† 3. transf. The wild goat of Persia, the best-known source of the calculus (2 a). In later times called bezoar-goat; so bezoar antelope. Obs. (Early writers confound beazer and beaver.)
| 1611 Cotgr., Bezoard..breeds in the maw of the Goat called a Beazer. 1620 Ford Linea V. 60 Their places and honours are hunted after as the beazar for his preservatiues. 1670 Phil. Trans. V. 1177 The Oriental Bezoar..being a Savage Animal like a kid. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1862) I. ii. iii. 308 The Bezoar goat..is the animal famous for that concretion in the intestines..called the oriental bezoar. 1781 tr. Buffon's Nat. Hist. VI. 407 note, The bezoar antilope..is one of the animals which produce the bezoar. |
4. attrib. and Comb., as bezoard-extract, etc.
| 1641 French Distill. ii. (1651) 60 Which may be called a Bezoard extract. 1676 Phil. Trans. XI. 743 The Bezoar-like virtue of such stones. 1709 G. Wilson Chym. i. (ed. 3) 13 One Pound more of new Bezoart Spirit of Nitre. |