chamomile
or cam·o·mile
[kam-uh-mahyl, -meel]
- a composite plant, Chamaemelium nobile (or Anthemis nobilis), native to the Old World, having strongly scented foliage and white ray flowers with yellow centers used medicinally and as a tea.
- any of several allied plants of the genera Matricaria and Tripleurospermum.
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Origin of chamomile
1350–1400; Middle English camamyll, camomille < Middle French, Old French camomille or Medieval Latin camomilla, for Latin chamaemēlon < Greek chamaímēlon, equivalent to chamaí on the ground + mêlon apple; allegedly so called from the applelike odor of the flowers
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for chamomile
Contemporary Examples
Most recently I tried acupuncture, Chinese herbs, raw apple cider vinegar, and chamomile tea.
Strong fennel and wormwood hit the back of my tongue along with a dryness from the barrel and hints of citrus from the chamomile.
Historical Examples
Take and boil a quantity of chamomile, and apply the hot fomentations.
Searchlights on Health: Light on Dark CornersB.G. Jefferis
The smell of the Chamomile is aromatic, and its qualities highly tonic.
Botany for LadiesJane Loudon
Oil of chamomile is reputed antispasmodic, tonic, and stomachic.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume IIArnold Cooley
This extract contains only the bitter portion of the chamomile, the aromatic volatile oil being dissipated during the evaporation.
The mass of extract of chamomile met with in the shops is nothing but extract of gentian scented with a little oil of chamomile.
chamomile
- a variant spelling of camomile
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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 chamomile
n.
obsolete form of camomile.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper