valerian
UK /vəˈlɪə.ɹi.ən/ · US /vəˈlɪ(ə)ɹ.i.ən/ noun, proper noun
Forms valerians Valerianus
- noun A hardy perennial flowering plant, Valeriana officinalis, with heads of sweetly scented pink or white flowers.
- noun More generally, any plant of the genus Valeriana.
- noun (uncountable) The root of Valeriana officinalis, used in herbal medicine.
- noun An extract of the dried roots of the Valeriana officinalis used in herbal medicine as a sedative.
- proper noun a Roman cognomen, notably borne by Publius Licinius Valerianus, a Roman emperor
- proper noun A male given name from Latin, of rare usage.
- proper noun A transliteration of the Russian male given name Валериа́н (Valerián).
Synonyms
Etymology
From Old French valeriane or Medieval Latin valeriāna, a reinterpretation of what is found as German Baldrian after valēre (“to be powerful”) or also the gentilic name Valerius, which is seemingly borrowed in the Dark Age period from the late 6ᵗʰ to early 8ᵗʰ century from Turkic or Proto-Mongolic, when the Pannonian Avars were direct neighbours to the Germans, notably also present in Hungarian bojtorján (“burdock”), ultimately from Proto-Mongolic, reflected as
Middle Mongol ᠪᠠᠯᠴᠢᠷᠭᠠᠨᠠ (balčirɣan-a, “false hellebore; angelica”), composed as ᠪᠠᠯᠴᠢᠷ (balčir, “infant; young, tender, fresh, rank”) + plant name suffix ᠭᠠᠨᠠ (-ɣana),
Mongolian балчиргана (balčirgana, “false hellebore; angelica”), composed as балчир (balčir, “infant; young, tender, fresh, rank”) + plant name suffix -гана (-gana).
See Ottoman Turkish بالدران (baldıran, “hemlock”) for Turkic cognates.
From Latin Valeriānus, from Valerius.
From Russian Валериа́н (Valerián).
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any plant of the genus Valeriana. The root of the officinal valerian (V. officinalis) has a strong smell, and is much used in medicine as an antispasmodic. Greek valerian (Bot.), a plant (Polemonium cæruleum) with blue or white flowers, and leaves resembling those of the officinal valerian.
Etymology [LL. valeriana, perhaps from some person named Valerius, or fr. L. valere to be strong. powerful, on account of its medicinal virtues: cf. F. valériane.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “valerian”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details