mandragora en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˌmænˈdɹæɡ.ə.ɹə/
- (US) audio
Etymology
From Medieval Latin mandragora, from Latin mandragorās.
Meanings
- (countable, uncountable) Any of various plants of the genus Mandragora.
-
(countable, uncountable) The root of such a plant, traditionally used as a narcotic.
The worst fodder for a President is not poppy and mandragora, but strychnine and adrenalin.
1933 January 30, H.L. Mencken, “The Coolidge Mystery”, in H.L. Mencken On Politics, published 1996, →ISBN, page 136:—though she did not know whether her supposed rival was dead or alive, whether the complaints she at once pitied and resented were those which "poppy and mandragora" might medicine, or "those written troubles of the brain" which were incapable of cure, she contrived to make up for herself a draught of most terrible infliction.
1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXVIII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 56:
- (countable, uncountable) A kind of tiny supernatural being, sometimes described as a demon.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| mandragoras | Number=Plur | lexicographic |