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ferula

[fer-oo-luh, fer-yoo-]
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noun, plural fer·u·las, fer·u·lae [fer-oo-lee, fer-yoo-] /ˈfɛr ʊˌli, ˈfɛr yʊ-/.
  1. 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.
  2. ferule1(def 1).
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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. 2018

Examples from the Web for ferula

Historical Examples

  • 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.

  • This substance is described in the London Pharmacopia as a gum resin, the production of an uncertain species of Ferula.

  • Ferrule” must be distinguished from “ferule” or “ferula,” properly the Latin name of the “giant fennel.

British Dictionary definitions for ferula

ferula

noun plural -las or -lae (-ˌliː)
  1. 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
  2. a rare word for ferule 1
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Derived Formsferulaceous (ˌfɛruːˈleɪʃəs, ˌfɛrjuː-), adjective

Word Origin

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