Adjacent Words

Jalap definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

JAL'AP, n. The root of a plant, a species of Convolvulus. It is brought in thin transverse slices, and also whole, of an oval shape, hard, solid and heavy. It has little or no taste or smell, but is much used in powder as a cathartic.

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: French & Spanish; French jalap, from Spanish jalapa, from Jalapa, Mexico Date: 1644 1. a. the dried tuberous root of a Mexican plant (Ipomoea purga syn. Exogonium purga) of the morning-glory family; also a powdered purgative drug prepared from it that contains resinous glycosides b. the root or derived drug of plants related to the one supplying jalap 2. a plant yielding jalap

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a purgative drug obtained esp. from the tuberous roots of a Mexican climbing plant, Exogonium purga. Etymology: F f. Sp. jalapa f. Jalapa, Xalapa, city in Mexico, f. Aztec Xalapan sand by the water

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Jalap Jal"ap, n. [F., fr. Sp. jalapa; -- so called from Jalapa, a town in Mexico, whence it was first obtained.] (Med.) The tubers of the Mexican plant Ipom[oe]a purga (or Exogonium purga), a climber much like the morning-glory. The abstract, extract, and powder, prepared from the tubers, are well known purgative medicines. Other species of Ipom[oe]a yield several inferior kinds of jalap, as the I. Orizabensis, and I. tuberosa. False jalap, the root of Mirabilis Jalapa, four-o'clock, or marvel of Peru.