‖ veratrum Bot.
(vəˈreɪtrəm)
[L. vērātrum hellebore.]
1. A perennial genus typical of the family Veratreæ of liliaceous plants; a plant belonging to this genus, esp. the white hellebore (V. album); also, the rhizome of this.
| [1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. lv. (Bodl. MS.), Eloborus;..þe Romayns clepeþ þis herbe Veratrum,..and þerof is twei manere of kinde, white & blacke. 1548 Turner Names Herbes (E.D.S.) 79 Veratrum..maye be called in englishe Nesewurte.] 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 69 Veratrum, there are two kindes of it, the blacke and the white. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 232 The root of Veratrum or Ellebore..maketh a most excellent medicine to rid it [dandruff] away. 1693 tr. Blancard's Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), Veratrum, the same with Helleborus. 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. s.v., The species of white Hellebore, enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, are these: 1. The greenish-flowered Veratrum. And 2. The early-flowering Veratrum, with blackish purple flowers. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 642/1 Veratrum has likewise been found useful in epilepsy, and other convulsive complaints. 1823 Crabb Technol. Dict. s.v., White-flowered Veratrum, or White Hellebore. 1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 448/1 We strongly suspect that all these supposed Veratrums really belong rather to the genus Helonias [etc.]. 1871 Garrod Mat. Med. (ed. 3) 345 Therapeutics [of Veratria]. As veratrum, but much more powerful. |
2. attrib. and Comb., as veratrum family, veratrum-leaved adj.; veratrum-resin (see quots.).
| 1836 J. M. Gully Magendie's Formul. (ed. 2) 69 That all the individuals of the veratrum family possessed a very acrid taste. 1843 Florist's Jrnl. (1846) IV. 156 Calanthe veratrifolia. (Derived from veratrum-leaved.) 1853 Royle Mat. Med. (ed. 2) 664 Veratrum Wine. 1868 Watts Dict. Chem. V. 997 Veratrum-resin,..a constituent of sabadilla-seeds. 1888 Cassell's Encycl. Dict., Veratrum-resin,..a brownish resin, extracted from sabadilla seeds. |