agaric, n. and a.
(ˈægərɪk, əˈgærɪk)
[ad. L. agaric-um the tree fungus used for tinder, touchwood, ad. Gr. ἀγαρικ-όν (said by Dioscorides to be named from Agaria a place in Sarmatia). Hence mod.L. Agaricus given by Dillenius, and adopted by Linnæus, for a genus of Fungi. Shelley accents aˈgaric, Tennyson ˈagaric.]
A. n.
1. Herb. and Pharm. A name given to various corky species of Polyporus, a genus of fungi growing upon trees; of which P. officinalis, chiefly found on the Larch, the ‘Female Agarick’ of old writers, was renowned as a cathartic, and with P. fomentarius, and P. igniarius, ‘Male Agarick’ used as a styptic, as tinder, and in dyeing. Obs. or arch.
| 1533 Elyot Castel of Helth (1541) 79 One dramme of Agaryke and halfe a dramme of fine Reubarbe. 1551 Turner Herbal ii. 29 Larche tre..giueth also..y⊇ famus medicine called Agarick..whereof some make tunder both in England and Germany for their gunnes. 1657 Phys. Dict., Agaric..purgeth phlegm, and opens obstructions in the Liver. 1756 Gentlem. Mag. XXVI. 352 The agaric sent from France, and applied as a styptic after amputations. 1836 Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. I. 229/1 Agaric and sponge entangled the blood and retained a coagulum on the spot. |
2. Bot. A mushroom; properly one of the Linnæan genus Agaricus.
| 1777 Lightfoot Fl. Scot. (1788) II. 1021 Little Champignion or Fairy Agaric: In dry pastures and frequently in those green circles of grass called Fairy Rings. 1820 Shelley Sens. Plant iii. 62 And agarics and fungi, with mildew and mould. 1859 Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 728 As one That smells a foul-flesh'd agaric in the holt. 1862 Coleman Woodl. Heaths, etc. 32 The Fly Agaric..is a very handsome fungus, having a bright red upper surface. |
3. = agaric mineral: see 4.
| 1727 Chambers Cycl., Agaric is also a denomination given to an earthy concretion, of the colour and consistence of coagulated milk. |
4. Comb. agaric-gnat, a name given by Kirby and Spence to a genus of insects (Mycetophila); agaric-mineral, a light, spongy variety of carbonate of lime, called also Rock-milk, allied to stalactites, and deposited by calcareous springs and in caverns.
| 1828 Kirby & Spence Entomol. II. xvi. 7 From the antennæ in his figure, it should seem a species of agaric-gnat. 1837–80 Dana Mineral. 680 Agaric Mineral..Rock-milk is a very soft, white material, breaking easily in the fingers. |
B. adj. [The n. used attrib.] Of or pertaining to agarics; fungoid.
| 1879 Syd. Soc. Lex., Agaric Acid, an acid obtained from Polyporus officinalis by extracting with ethers. 1879 G. Macdonald P. Faber I. x. 117 The efflorescent crusts and agaric tumours upon the dry bones of theology. |