Adjacent Words

fumitory definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: delicate European herb with greyish leaves and spikes of purplish flowers; formerly used medicinally [syn: fumitory, fumewort, fumeroot, Fumaria officinalis]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English fumeterre, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin fumus terrae, literally, smoke of the earth, from Latin fumus + terrae, genitive of terra earth — more at terrace Date: 14th century any of a genus (Fumaria of the family Fumariaceae, the fumitory family) of erect or climbing herbs; especially a common European herb (F. officinalis)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. any plant of the genus Fumaria, esp. F. officinalis, formerly used against scurvy. Etymology: ME f. OF fumeterre f. med.L fumus terrae earth-smoke

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fumitory Fu"mi*to*ry, n. [OE. fumetere, F. fumeterre, prop., smoke of the ground, fr. L. fumus smoke + terra earth. See Fume, and Terrace.] (Bot.) The common uame of several species of the genus Fumaria, annual herbs of the Old World, with finely dissected leaves and small flowers in dense racemes or spikes. F. officinalis is a common species, and was formerly used as an antiscorbutic. Climbing fumitory (Bot.), the Alleghany vine (Adlumia cirrhosa); a biennial climbing plant with elegant feathery leaves and large clusters of pretty white or pinkish flowers looking like grains of rice.