buchu

[ boo-koo, byoo-kyoo ]

/ ˈbu ku, ˈbyu kyu /

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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.

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Origin of buchu

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

Words nearby buchu

Buchenwald, Buchman, Buchmanism, Buchner, Buchner funnel, buchu, buck, buck and wing, buckaroo, buck bean, buckboard

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

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

Word Origin for 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