bezoar

[ bee-zawr, -zohr ]

/ ˈbi zɔr, -zoʊr /

noun

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, especially ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

Obsolete. a counterpoison or antidote.

Nearby words

Origin of bezoar

1470–80; earlier bezear < Medieval Latin bezahar < Arabic bā(di)zahr < Persian pād-zahr counterpoison; -o- < New Latin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bezoar

The Arabic name of the bezoar (badesar) has the meaning of antidote.
A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama 1497-1499|Unknown
The ancients, both Greeks and Latins, have no knowledge of the bezoar.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume VIII (of 10)|Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
Other magic medicines exist such as aphrodisiacs, and bezoar stones.
The Manbos of Mindano|John M. Garvan
The oldest domesticated goats seem to be descended from the Bezoar goat (Capra ægagrus), from the mountains of southwestern Asia.
The New Stone Age in Northern Europe|John M. Tyler

It was called the bezoar stone, and was a concretion chiefly of resinous bile and magnesia, and the rest inert vegetable matter.
Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals|R. Lee

British Dictionary definitions for bezoar

bezoar

/ (ˈbiːzɔː) /

noun

a hard mass, such as a stone or hairball, in the stomach and intestines of animals, esp ruminants, and man: formerly thought to be an antidote to poisons

Word Origin for bezoar

C15: from Old French bézoard, from Arabic bāzahr, from Persian bādzahr, from bād against + zahr poison

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

Word Origin and History for bezoar

bezoar

late 15c., ultimately from Arabic bazahr, from Persian pad-zahr "counter-poison," from pad "protecting, guardian, master" (from Iranian *patar-, cf. Avestan patar-, from PIE *pa-tor-, from root *pa- "to protect, feed") + zahr "poison" (from Old Iranian *jathra, from PIE *gwhn-tro-, from root *gwhen- "to strike, kill;" see bane). Originally "antidote," later specifically in reference to a concoction from solid matter found in the stomachs and intestines of ruminants, which was held to have antidotal qualities (1570s).

Medicine definitions for bezoar

bezoar

[ bē′zôr′ ]

n.

A hard indigestible mass of material, such as hair, vegetable fibers, or the seeds and skins of fruits, formed in the alimentary canal.