‖ sanguinaria Bot. and Pharm.
(sæŋgwɪˈnɛərɪə)
[mod.L. (J. J. Dillenius in Linnæus Systema Naturæ (1735)) application of L. sanguināria (sc. herba), fem. of sanguinārius pertaining to blood: see sanguinary a.
The plant so called in classical Latin (identified by Pliny with Gr. πολύγονον polygonum) had the name from its real or supposed property of stanching blood; the modern application refers to the blood-red colour of the root.]
The blood-root, Sanguinaria canadensis; also the rhizome of this, used in medicine.
| 1808 [see Jersey tea s.v. Jersey2]. 1842 Bryant Fountain iv, The flower Of sanguinaria, from whose brittle stem The red drops fell like blood. 1875 H. C. Wood Therap. (1879) 435 As an emetic, sanguinaria has fallen into well-deserved disuse. 1887 Homeopathic World 1 Nov. 506 In reference to Sanguinaria, he said that its most brilliant triumphs were in edematous laryngitis. |