squill
(skwɪl)
Also 5 sqwylle, squylle, 6 squyll, 7 squille, 6–8 squil.
[ad. L. squilla, var. scilla, a. Gr. σκίλλα. So F. squille, It. squilla, Pg. esquilla, Sp. escila]
1. a. A bulb or root of the sea-onion or other related plant (see 2). Chiefly in pl.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 195 Froting wiþ squillis is good þerfore. Ibid. 196 Þou schalt frote wel þe place with squillis in a stewe. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 20 Thrust a squill dipped in oyle into hys throte, to cause him perbreake. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme 143 As for cornes and apostumes they must be killed with strong leauens, onions, lillies, or squils and vineger. 1626 Bacon Sylva §445 Put them into a Squill, (which is like a great Onion,) and they will come up much earlier than in the Earth it self. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 689 Add to these..Hellebore, and Squills deep rooted in the Seas. 1725 Fam. Dict. s.v. Venice-Treacle, In the other part of the Wine infuse..green Squills for some time. 1738 Chambers Cycl. (1752) s.v. Scilla, There are two kinds of squills, the male and female,..also distinguished by the appellations of white squills..and red squills. 1807 Robinson Archæol. Græca iii. iv. 211 By drawing round the person purified a squill, or sea-onion. 1838 Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 716 Macerate dry squills in alcohol, decant, and distil. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1194/2 It has been supposed that the Red Squills are the produce of another species, Urginea Pancration, but this seems doubtful. |
b. In the names of various preparations made from these bulbs.
| 1652 French Yorkshire Spa ix. 82 Let him..take some easie vomit, as of Oxymel, or wine of Squils. 1684 [see oxymel]. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Scillites acetum, Vinegar of Squills. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 172 Galen..gave it to a Dram in Oxymel or Honey of Squills. 1778 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) I. 311 A solution of gum ammoniac in vinegar of squills. 1810 Crabbe Borough vii. 248 A potent thing, 'twas said, to cure the ills Of ailing lungs—the oxymel of squills. 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 551 Oxymel of squills and compound tinct. of camphor. |
c. Pharm. Without article, as a substance.
| 1725 Fam. Dict. s.v., Vinegar made of Squill or Scillitick Oximel. 1836 Pharm. R. Coll. Phys. 56 Squill contains a peculiar vegetable product to which the name of scillitin has been given. 1875 H. C. Wood Therap. (1879) 480 Clinical experience has established the fact that in small repeated doses squill is diuretic as well as expectorant. 1947 Federation Proc. VI. 333/1 The identity of the cardiac and the convulsant properties of red squill receives support from an experiment. 1963 Times 25 Jan. 13/7 The poisons are principally red squill, sodium fluoro-acetate, and rodenticides containing elemental phosphorus. 1974 M. C. Gerald Pharmacol. iii. 57 Strychnine and red squill have been used as rat poisons. |
2. Bot. a. The bulbous-rooted sea-shore plant Scilla (or Urginea) maritima; the sea-onion; also, any other species of the genus Scilla.
| c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 856 Eek figtre askis oon on rukul throwith, Another hangith vp or sowith squylle. Ibid. iv. 340 To sowe ek squylle is kynde On euery side. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 471/1 Sqwylle, herbe, cepa maris, bulbus. 1516 Grete Herball ccccxiii. (1529) Y iv, A squyll or see onyon. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. (1568) 62 It is meruelus that chanseth vnto the Squill or se vnyon & to Narcissus. 1629 Parkinson Parad. xi. 134 The Squill or Sea Onion is wholly vsed physically with us, because wee can receiue no pleasure from the sight of the flowers. 1725 Fam. Dict. s.v., Squill is of a sharp and corrosive Nature; they wrap up its Root in Paste or Fullers Earth, and bake it in an Oven. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 328 Squill, scilla. 1862 Ansted Channel Isl. ii. viii. (ed. 2) 177 The picturesque little squill (Scilla autumnalis) will be found on the high ground. 1868 D. Gorrie Summers & W. Orkneys v. 222 The field-gentian, the bird's-eye primrose, and the squill. |
b. With distinguishing terms.
| 1629 Parkinson Parad. (1656) 133 To taste of the red Squil. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Scilla, Common Red Squil. Ibid., The White Squil. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 338 Autumnal Squill. Ibid., Vernal Squill. 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 362 There are two varieties of the officinal squill, one with a white bulb and the other with a reddish bulb. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 396/1 Squilla maritima, the maritime squill, has large roundish ovate bulbs. Ibid., Roxburgh's Indian Squill (Scilla Indica). 1848 Johns Week at Lizard 279 Scilla autumnalis, Autumnal Squill, a plant very like the vernal species. 1901 Speaker 20 Apr. 86/2 The meagre turf was spangled with the vernal squill. |
c. A plant of the sea-onion or related species. Chiefly pl. as a collective term.
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 19 These Squilles or Sea-onions grow in exceeding great abundance..throughout all Spaine. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 178 Near the Sea grow Squills, or Sea-Onions. 1718 Ozell tr. Tournefort's Voy. i. 152 The rest of the Mountain is spread with Cretan Thyme,..Lentisques, Squills. 1767 Abercrombie Ev. Man own Gardener (1803) 727/2 Squills, sea onion, or lily hyacinth. 1846 Lindley Veg. Kingd. 202 With the Scilleæ or Squills, we reach a division of the Order [etc.]. 1882 Garden 4 Mar. 139/3 The early Squills, too, assert themselves boldly. |
3. One or other of certain plants resembling the squill (see quots.).
| 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 328 Squill, Lesser white, Pancratium. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1089/2 Chinese Squill, Barnardia. Ibid., Roman Squill, Bellevalia. |
4. Zool. The mantis-shrimp, Squilla mantis.
| 1710 Sibbald Hist. Fife 54 The Crustate Animals comprehend under them several Species, such as the Squills, the Crabs, the Lobsters, and the Sea-Vrchin. 1879 E. P. Wright Anim. Life 536 Here would be placed the curious Squill, so common in the Mediterranean (Squilla mantis). |
5. attrib. and Comb., as squill bulb, squill pill, squill vinegar; squill-like; † squill-fish, = sense 4; † squill-head (see quot.); † squill-insect, = squilla 3.
| 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 7 Sirnaming him Joult-head and Onions head, or as we should say Squil-head. 1681 Grew Musæum i. vii. iii. 176 The Squill-Insect... So called from some similitude to the Squill-Fish. c 1790 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) I. 622/2 Ammoniac..is an ingredient also in the squill pills. Ibid., A plaster made of it and squill vinegar. 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 362 The squill bulb is inodorous. 1822 Good Study Med. IV. 402 When mixed, however, with the squill pill..it often succeeds. 1825 Greenho. Comp. I. 109 Ixia scillaris, squill-like flowers. |