elecampane

American  

[el-i-kam-peyn] / ˌɛl ɪ kæmˈpeɪn /

noun

1. a composite weed, Inula helenium, naturalized in North America, having large yellow flowers and aromatic leaves and root.

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elecampane British  

/ ˌɛlɪkæmˈpeɪn /

noun

1. a perennial flowering plant, Inula helenium, of Europe, Asia, and North America having large hairy leaves and narrow yellow petals: family Asteraceae (composites)

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Etymology

Origin of elecampane

1350–1400; Middle English, equivalent to Old English ele ( ne ), eolone (metathetic alteration of Medieval Latin enula, Latin inula elecampane) + Middle English campane < Medieval Latin campāna, equivalent to camp ( us ) field + -āna, feminine of -ānus -ane, -an

Example Sentences

God was in the details: in the petals of a cornflower or the veins of an elecampane leaf, in the grain of stone or the purling of a brook.

From Time Magazine Archive

Doctor Harmon arose and followed him to the gold garden, and together they stood beside the molten hedge of sunflowers, coneflowers, elecampane, and jewel flower.

From The Harvester by Stratton-Porter, Gene

This was in pennyroyal time, and when the rare lobelia was in its prime and the elecampane was coming on.

From The Country of the Pointed Firs by Jewett, Sarah Orne

Lungwort, maiden-hair, hyssop, elecampane and hoarhound steeped together, is an almost certain cure for a cough.

From The American Frugal Housewife by Child, Lydia Maria Francis

There is marjoram and sage, clary, spearmint, peppermint, salsify, elecampane, tansy, assafœtida, coriander, angelica, caper spurge, lamb's lettuce, and sorrel.

From Nature Near London by Jefferies, Richard