buchu

[ boo-koo, byoo-kyoo ]

noun

any of several southern African citrus shrubs of the genus Agathosma or the genus Diosma, especially A. betulina, A. crenulata, or D. ericoides, whose leaves yield a dark-colored oil formerly used as a urinary antiseptic and mild diuretic.

Origin of buchu

1725–35; <Afrikaans (now spelling boegoe) <Khoikhoi, first attested as boggoa (1668)

Words Nearby buchu

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use buchu in a sentence

Therefore, my baasjes, Outa cooks bossies from the veld to rub on—buchu and kookamakranka and karroo bossies.
Outa Karel's Stories | Sanni Metelerkamp
Outa will tell the baasjes about them another night, but now he must go quick—quick and let Lys rub his back with buchu.
Outa Karel's Stories | Sanni Metelerkamp
Columbian spirits, caramel, cinnamon and cardamom, and a touch of the buchu.
The Clarion | Samuel Hopkins Adams
A bitter extractive matter, obtained by Brande from buchu leaves.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I | Arnold Cooley
The British Pharmacopoeia contains an infusion and tincture of buchu.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for buchu

buchu

/ (ˈbuːkuː) /

noun

any of several S. African rutaceous shrubs of the genus Barosma, esp B. betulina, whose leaves are used as an antiseptic and diuretic

Origin of buchu

C18: from a South African Bantu name

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

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