gentian
(ˈdʒɛnʃən)
Forms: 4 jencian, 5 gencyan(e, 5–6 gencian, 6 gentiane, 6– gentian.
[ad. L. gentiāna, so called (according to Pliny) after Gentius, king of Illyria.]
1. a. Any plant belonging to the genus Gentiana (cf. felwort); esp. G. lutea, the officinal gentian which yields the gentian-root of the pharmacopœia. fringed gentian = G. crinita.
| c 1000 [see felwort]. 1382 [see gentian-tree in 2]. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 61 Take þe pouder of crabbis brent vj parties, gencian iij parties..make poudre. 1516 Life St. Bridget in Myrr. our Ladye p. lii, Gencian whiche is a moch bytter erbe she helde contynually in hir mouth. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cv. (1633) 432 There be divers sorts of Gentians or Felwoorts. 1671 Salmon Syn. Med. iii. xxii. 402 Gentian, the root resists poyson and Plague. 1794 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xvii. 225 The principal of the genus is the Great Yellow Gentian, which has a single stalk, three feet high. 1801 Southey Thalaba iv. xxiv, The herbs so fair to eye Were Senna, and the Gentian's blossom blue. 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 216 The intense bitterness of the Gentian is a characteristic of the whole order. 1844 Lowell Leg. Brittany i. xvi, More sad than cheery, making in good sooth, Like the fringed gentian, a late autumn spring. 1882 Garden 3 June 385/3 The early flowering Gentians..have done badly as regards bloom. |
b. Applied to plants of other orders and genera.
| 1879 Britten & Holland Plant-n., Gentian..2. Erythræa Centaurium, L.—Suss.; Scotl., on the shores of the Moray Firth, where an infusion is drunk as a tonic. 1889 Century Dict. s.v., False gentian, Pleurogyne Carinthiaca, a gentian⁓aceous plant of Europe, northern Asia, and western North America. Horse-gentian, Triosteum perfoliatum, a capri⁓foliaceous plant of North America. Spurred gentian, Halenia deflexa, a gentianaceous plant of North America. |
c. A bitter liquor made from the root of gentian. Also
gentiane,
gentian brandy,
gentian spirit.
| 1857 L. Pappe Floræ Capensis p. vi, Different kinds of Sebæa..could..serve as a good substitute for Gentian. 1892 Cornhill Mag. XVIII. 615 The gentian spirit may be said to be the very elixir of life to the mountain folk. Ibid. 616 The smell of gentian brandy is not pleasant, especially if new, but with age the spirit greatly improves, mellows, and loses its disagreeable aroma. 1902 J. T. Law Grocer's Man. 408/2 Gentian Spirit, a bitter liquor made from gentian root. 1966 P. V. Price France 65 A pre-prandial digestive of a herby type, such as gentian or anisette. 1967 I. Marder Paris Bit ix. 151 ‘I haven't been able to think of a blue drink. Can you?’ ‘How about gentiane?’ |
2. a. attrib., as in
gentian-blue,
gentian-flower,
gentian-root,
gentian-tree,
gentian-violet,
gentian-water,
gentian-wine;
gentian-bitter, the tonic principle extracted from gentian root;
gentian-worts, Lindley's name for the family Gentianaceæ.
| 1882 Ogilvie, *Gentian-bitter. |
| 1865 Baring-Gould Werewolves vii. 85 Sand-hills..patched with *gentian-blue. |
| 1856 Bryant Poems, November 7 The blue *gentian flower, that, in the breeze, Nods lonely. 1873 Ouida Pascarel I. 81 Their hands were full of blue gentian flowers. |
| 1530 Palsgr. 224/2 *Gencyan rote, gentian. 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 598 Take of gentian root, bruised, two drachms. |
| 1382 Wyclif Jer. xvii. 6 It shal ben as *iencian trees [L. myricæ] in desert. |
| 1897 Allbutt Syst. Med. II. 3 It takes up the stain..of *gentian violet. |
| 1727–51 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Water, *Gentian-water. Take four pounds of gentian roots..mince them [etc.]. |
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, *Gentian-wine, Drank for a Whet before Dinner. |
| 1845 Lindley Sch. Bot. 91 Gentianaceæ—*Gentianworts. |
b. quasi-adj. Having the blue colour of the gentian; gentian-blue.
| 1908 Westm. Gaz. 7 Dec. 2/3 A gentian sky untinged By any haze its noontide blue outstretches. 1967 S. Pakenham Sixty Miles from England xv. 204 Lady Blanche, in her white mantilla and pussy-cat bow of gentian silk. |
Hence
gentiaˈnaceous a. [
-aceous], of or belonging to the family Gentianaceæ;
gentiaˈnesque a. [
-esque], of or pertaining to the gentians or Gentianaceæ;
genˈtianic a. Chem., in
gentianic acid (see
quot.);
ˈgentianin (formerly also
-ine)
= gentianic acid.
| 1854 Mayne Expos. Lex., Gentianaceus, gentianaceous. (And in recent Dicts.) Ibid., Gentianin. 1864 Watts Dict. Chem., Gentianic Acid, Gentianin, an organic acid existing in the root of gentian..extracted by treating the powdered root with water [etc.]. 1896 Daily News 23 July 8/6 Its flower still betrays undoubted marks of its gentianesque descent. |