feverfew
(ˈfiːvəfjuː, ˈfɛv-)
Forms: 1 féferfuȝe, -fuȝie, 5 fevyrfue, 6 -fewe, fewerfew, 7 feverfue, feaverfew, Sc. feverfoylie, 5– feverfew. See also featherfew, fetterfoe.
[OE. féferfuᵹe, -fuᵹie, ad. late L. febrifuga, L. febrifugia, f. L. febri- (febris) fever + fug-āre to drive away.
The mod. form cannot directly descend from the OE.; its source is the AF. *fevrefue (fewerfue c 1265 in Wr.-Wülck. 556), which normally represents the Lat. Under featherfew (a corruption suggested by the ‘feather-like’ appearance of the leaves) will be found forms in -foy (:—OE. -fuᵹie), which in some dialects has been corrupted into -foil. The name feather-foil has by botanical writers been applied to another ‘feather-leaved’ plant: see feather n. 19.]
a. The plant Pyrethrum Parthenium. b. dial. The Erythræa Centaurium.
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 134 Febrefugia..feferfuge. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 134 Curmelle feferfuᵹe. c 1425 Eng. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 645 Hec febrifuga, fevyr⁓few. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 79 b, The new writers hold.. that feuerfew is better for weomen. 1579 Langham Gard. Health (1633) 234 Feuerfue comforteth the stomacke, and is good for the feuer quotidian. 1673 Wedderburn Voc. 18 (Jam.) Matricaria, feverfoylie. 1741 Compl. Fam. Piece i. iv. 258 Feverfew, Catmint, Pennyroyal, each 3 Handfuls. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. III. 314 Common Fever-few. |