hellebore
UK /ˈhɛlɪbɔː/ · US /ˈhɛlɪbɔːɹ/ noun
Forms hellebores
- noun Any of the common garden flowering plants of the genus Helleborus, in family Ranunculaceae, having supposed medicinal properties.
- noun A toxic extract of certain false hellebores (Veratrum album or Veratrum viride), formerly used as a pesticide.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English ellebore, from Old French ellebre, elebore, from Medieval Latin eleborus, via Latin from Ancient Greek ἑλλέβορος (helléboros), possibly from ἄλκη (álkē, “elk [moose]”) βιβρώσκω (bibrṓskō, “to eat”). The initial h was restored in English to reflect the Ancient Greek etymology.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A genus of perennial herbs (Helleborus) of the Crowfoot family, mostly having powerfully cathartic and even poisonous qualities. H. niger is the European black hellebore, or Christmas rose, blossoming in winter or earliest spring. H. officinalis was the officinal hellebore of the ancients.
- noun Any plant of several species of the poisonous liliaceous genus Veratrum, especially V. album and V. viride, both called white hellebore.
Etymology [L. helleborus, elleborus, Gr. hellébore, ellébore.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “hellebore”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details