ferula

[fer-oo-luh, fer-yoo-]

noun, plural fer·u·las, fer·u·lae [fer-oo-lee, fer-yoo-] /ˈfɛr ʊˌli, ˈfɛr yʊ-/.

Botany. any of various plants belonging to the genus Ferula, of the parsley family, chiefly of the Mediterranean region and central Asia, generally tall and coarse with dissected leaves, many of the Asian species yielding strongly scented, medicinal gum resins.

ferule¹(def 1).

Origin of ferula

1350–1400; Middle English < New Latin, Latin; see ferule¹

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

Examples from the Web for ferula

Historical Examples of ferula

An inferior sort is the product of certain species of Ferula.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 2
Various
Perhaps the ferula had been applied to him at Constantinople in old days.
The Roman and the Teuton
Charles Kingsley
With a bounding heart, he tossed away his ferula, and hastened to the scene, where joys for evermore seemed calling on him.
The Life of Friedrich Schiller
Thomas Carlyle
This substance is described in the London Pharmacopia as a gum resin, the production of an uncertain species of Ferula.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II
Arnold Cooley
Ferrule” must be distinguished from “ferule” or “ferula,” properly the Latin name of the “giant fennel.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 3
Various

British Dictionary definitions for ferula

ferula

noun plural -las or -lae (-ˌliː)

any large umbelliferous plant of the Mediterranean genus Ferula, having thick stems and dissected leaves: cultivated as the source of several strongly scented gum resins, such as galbanum

a rare word for ferule 1

Derived Formsferulaceous (ˌfɛruːˈleɪʃəs, ˌfɛrjuː-), adjective

Word Origin for ferula

C14: from Latin: giant fennel

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