euphrasy
(ˈjuːfrəsɪ)
Also 5 heufrasy, 6–7 euphrasie, 7 eufrage.
[ad. med.L. euphrasia (incorrectly eufragia), a. Gr. εὐϕρασ-ία, lit. ‘cheerfulness’, f. εὐϕραίνειν to cheer, f. εὐ- (see eu-) + ϕρήν mind. Cf. Fr. eufraise.]
1. Bot. A plant, Euphrasia officinalis (family Scrophulariaceæ), formerly held in high repute for its medicinal virtues in the treatment of diseases of the eye; = eye-bright. Also fig.
| c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 787 Hec eufrasia, a heufrasy. 1503 Sheph. Kalender xxviii, Salendin, eufrage, pimpernell. 1577 Frampton Joyful News 43 b, Euphrasie, otherwise called eye-bright. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 414 Michael..purg'd with Euphrasie and Rue The visual Nerve. 1742 Shenstone Schoolmistr. xii. 100 Euphrasy..That gives dim eyes to wander leagues around. 1816 Southey Poet's Pilgr. i. 40 Reason when the props of flesh gave way Purged as with euphrasy the mortal eye. 1865 Gosse Land & Sea (1874) 15 The little euphrasy derives its name of eyebright..from its old reputation for ‘making old eyes young again’. |
b. fig.
| 1838 S. Bellamy Betrayal ii. 45 The early zephyr from the Orient breath'd And rent the curtain'd sky..The euphrasy of dawn. 1848 H. Miller First Impr. xvii. (1857) 308 The eye purged and strengthened by the euphrasy of science. 1860 Faber Bethlehem vi. (1865) 353 Eyes which have been touched with the special euphrasy of heaven. |
¶ 2. In pseudo-etymological sense: Fine phrasing. rare—1.
[A Gr. *εὐϕρασία in this sense might have been f. εὐ- + ϕράζειν to speak, but it is not actually found.]
| 1833 Fraser's Mag. VII. 216 His former volumes abounded in..affected idioms, and constant attempts at euphrasy. |