mechoacan
(mɛˈtʃəʊəkən)
Also 6 mechoicana, 7 mechoacham, mechacan, mechocan, mechoacauna, (mecoacan), 7–9 mechoachan.
[Called from the Mexican province Mechoacan. (Hence often written with capital M.)]
1. The root of a Mexican species of bindweed, Ipomæa (Batatas) Jalapa, formerly used in medicine as a purgative; also, the plant itself. Also called white mechoacan.
| 1577 Frampton Joyfull Newes 23 b, The Mechoacan is a Roote..brought from a countrie..called Mechoacan. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. v. xi. (1636) 555 The chiefe Merchandizes that come from Mexicana..are these, Gold, Silver,..the root Mechoicana. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cccviii. 723 That plant..called Mechoacan, or Bryonie of Mexico. Ibid., The Bryonie, or Mechoacan of Peru groweth vp [etc.]. 1672 J. Josselyn New-Eng. Rarities 58 Briony of Peru..; some take it for Mechoacan. 1676 T. Glover in Phil. Trans. XI. 630 Here [Virginia] grow two Roots, which some Physicians judg, the one to be Turbith, the other Mechoacan. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 95/2 Mechacan of Peru..groweth up like hops, by help of a pole. 1703 W. Dampier Voy. (1729) III. 453 Mechoacan. A Sort of blush-coloured Bindweed. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece i. i. 34 The Root of Mechoacan. 1768 W. Lewis Mat. Med. (ed. 2) 375 Mechoacan scarcely yields one sixth part so much [resin] as jalap does. 1840 Pereira Elem. Mat. Med. ii. 893 The roots of several others have been employed in medicine on account of their purgative properties; as the root called Mechoacan... Their use is now obsolete. 1856 Mayne Expos. Lex., Mechoacanna,..the plant mechoacan. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 410 Wild Potato Vine (Convolvulus panduratus), also known by its Indian name of Mechoachan, which grows in sandy soil all over the United States. 1890 Syd. Soc. Lex., Mechoacan, white, same as Mechoacan. |
2. With qualifying words, applied to various other plants of similar properties.
| 1890 Syd. Soc. Lex. s.v., Black Mechoacan, a synonym of Jalap. Grey Mechoacan, the root of Myrabilis [sic] longiflora. Mechoacan of Canada, the root of Phytolacca decandra. |
† 3. A purgative drug obtained from the roots of
Ipomæa (
Batatas)
Jalapa and other plants.
Obs.| 1610 [see kermes 1]. 1626 Bacon Sylva §36 The Qualitie of the Medicine..is..of secret Malignity, and disagreement towards Mans Bodie..; As in Scammony, Mechoacham, Antimony, &c. 1681 tr. Willis' Rem. Med. Wks. Vocab., Mechoacan, a purging drug brought from the Indies. 1768 W. Lewis Mat. Med. (ed. 2) 375 The dose of the mechoacan in substance is from one dram to two or more. |
4. attrib., as
mechoacan root;
† mechoacan-ale, a drink medicated with mechoacan;
mechoacan jalap (see
jalap 2).
| 1696 Salmon Fam.-Dict. 203 Spring and Fall purge with *Mecoacan-Ale. |
| 1632 Sherwood s.v., The (Indian) *Mechoacan root, Rhamindique. 1866 Treas. Bot. 727/1 Mechoacan root. Batatas Jalapa. |