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echinacea

[ ek-uh-ney-shuh, -see-uh ]
/ ˌɛk əˈneɪ ʃə, -si ə /
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noun
any of several coneflowers of the genus Echinacea whose leaves, roots, and other parts are used in herbal medicine to promote wound healing and enhance the immune system.
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Origin of echinacea

First recorded in 1825–30; from New Latin Echīnācea, genus name, from Latin echīnus “sea urchin,” from Greek echînos “hedgehog, sea urchin, a kind of plant” + -acea
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use echinacea in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for echinacea

echinacea
/ (ˌɛkɪˈneɪʃɪə) /

noun
Also called: purple coneflower either of the two N American plants of the genus Echinacea, having flower heads with purple rays and black centres: family Compositae (composites)See coneflower
the powdered root of either of these plants, used to stimulate the immune system

Word Origin for echinacea

from New Latin, from Latin echīnātus prickly, from echīnus hedgehog
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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