† ˈdragonwort Obs.
1. The plant Dracunculus vulgaris; = dragons.
| 1565–73 Cooper Thesaurus, Dracontium..Dragonwort, or dragens. 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. vi. 322 It is thought..that those which carrie about them the leaues or rootes of great Dragonwurtes, cannot be hurt nor stong of Vipers and Serpentes. 1607 Topsell Serpents (1658) 594 A certain experimental unguent..made of..the roots of dragonwort. |
2. small d.: the common Arum or Wake-robin.
| 1674 Blagrave Suppl. to Culpepper's Eng. Physic. 54 Aron maculatum; in English, small Dragon-wort, and speckled Aron. |
3. The Snakeweed, Polygonum Bistorta. rare.
| 1656 Culpepper Eng. Physic. 35 Bistort..is called Snake⁓weed,..Dragonwort. |