ergot

[ ur-guh t, -got ]

/ ˈɜr gət, -gɒt /

noun

Plant Pathology.

a disease of rye and other cereal grasses, caused by a fungus of the genus Claviceps, especially C. purpurea, which replaces the affected grain with a long, hard, blackish sclerotial body.
the sclerotial body itself.

Pharmacology. the dried sclerotium of C. purpurea, developed on rye plants: used in the production of ergotamine and ergotoxine.

Nearby words

ergonomics, ergonomist, ergonovine, ergophobia, ergosterol, ergot, ergotamine, ergotin, ergotism, ergotoxine, ergotrate

Origin of ergot

1675–85; < French: literally, a rooster's spur; Old French argos, argoz, argot spur(s)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ergot

The grasses, natural and artificial, are occasionally affected by a formidable and well-known fungus, the ergot.
The Stock-Feeder's Manual|Charles Alexander Cameron
Ergot and turpentine are administered in case of hemorrhage—the former best, perhaps, hypodermatically.
A System of Practical Medicine By American Authors, Vol. II|Various
According to M. Bonjean, this preparation possesses all the hmostatic without any of the poisonous qualities of ergot.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I|Arnold Cooley
Ergot, the altered grain of rye and other grasses caused by the attack of an ascomycetous fungus called Claviceps purpurea.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia|Various

Ergot attacks wheat and rice as well as rye, but not to such an extent as to have any important influence upon the crop.
Fungi: Their Nature and Uses|Mordecai Cubitt Cooke

British Dictionary definitions for ergot

ergot

/ (ˈɜːɡət, -ɡɒt) /

noun

a disease of cereals and other grasses caused by ascomycete fungi of the genus Claviceps, esp C. purpurea, in which the seeds or grain of the plants are replaced by the spore-containing bodies (sclerotia) of the fungus

any fungus causing this disease

the dried sclerotia of C. purpurea, used as the source of certain alkaloids used to treat haemorrhage, facilitate uterine contraction in childbirth, etc

Word Origin for ergot

C17: from French: spur (of a cock), of unknown origin

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 ergot

ergot

fungal disease of rye and other grasses, 1680s, from French ergot, from Old French argot "cock's spur" (12c.), of unknown origin. The blight so called from the shape the fungus forms on the diseased grain. Ergotism "disease caused by eating ergot-infected breadstuffs," first recorded 1853. An alkaloid from the fungus, ergotamine (1921) is used to treat migraines.

Medicine definitions for ergot

ergot

[ ûr′gət, -gŏt′ ]

n.

A fungus that infects various cereal plants and forms compact black masses of branching filaments that replace many of the grains of the host plant.

The dried sclerotia of ergot, usually obtained from rye seed and used as a source of several medicinally important alkaloids and as the basic source of lysergic acid.

Science definitions for ergot

ergot

[ ûr′gət ]

A fungus (Claviceps purpurea) that infects rye as well as other cereal grasses fed to livestock. Ergot forms sclerotia (masses of hyphae) that replace individual seeds in the spike of the infected plant and contain a complex mixture of alkaloids, several of which are medicinally important. Ergot is the basic source of ergotamine and lysergic acid. Ingestion of infected rye produces convulsions, hallucinations, and severe vasoconstriction that can lead to gangrene. Ergot poisoning may have been responsible for outbreaks of mass hysteria and reports of demonic visions in medieval Europe.