asarum

[as-er-uh m]

noun Chemistry.

the dried rhizome and roots of wild ginger that yield an acrid resin and a volatile, aromatic oil, used chiefly as a flavoring.

Origin of asarum

< Latin < Greek ásaron hazelwort, wild spikenard

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for asarum

Historical Examples of asarum

True ginger must not be confounded with "wild ginger," which is a small herbaceous plant (Asarum canadense) of the United States.
Birds and all Nature, Vol. V, No. 2, February 1899
Various
The long, slender rhizomes of Asarum have a pungent, aromatic taste similar to ginger.
Birds and all Nature, Vol. V, No. 2, February 1899
Various
It also feeds upon wild ginger or Asarum and probably upon other plants.
Butterflies Worth Knowing
Clarence M. Weed

British Dictionary definitions for asarum

asarum

noun

the dried strong-scented root of the wild ginger plant: a flavouring agent and source of an aromatic oil used in perfumery, formerly used in medicine

Word Origin for asarum

C19: via New Latin from Latin: hazelwort, from Greek asaron

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012