feverfew

[ fee-ver-fyoo ]

/ ˈfi vərˌfyu /

noun

a bushy composite plant, Chrysanthemum parthenium, bearing small white flowers, formerly used as a remedy for fever and headache.

Nearby words

Origin of feverfew

1400–50; late Middle English < Anglo-French *feverfue (replacing early Middle English fever fugie, Old English feferfuge) < Late Latin febrifugia. See febrifuge

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

Examples from the Web for feverfew

There is some flower here that the pompous Feverfew doesn't care to associate with.
Old-Time Gardens|Alice Morse Earle
The little, low-growing yellow-foliaged Feverfew, called Golden Feather, is used extensively for edging and design beds.
The Practical Garden-Book|C. E. Hunn
They sat down on the sour stony land among the rag-wort and teazles and feverfew.
Plashers Mead|Compton Mackenzie
She gave us feverfew, camomile, and dandelion, of which we made hot drinks.
The Chaplain of the Fleet|Walter Besant and James Rice

Let her boil burnet, mugwort, feverfew and vervain in all her broths.
The Works of Aristotle the Famous Philosopher|Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for feverfew

feverfew

/ (ˈfiːvəˌfjuː) /

noun

a bushy European strong-scented perennial plant, Tanacetum parthenium, with white flower heads, formerly used medicinally: family Asteraceae (composites)

Word Origin for feverfew

Old English feferfuge, from Late Latin febrifugia, from Latin febris fever + fugāre to put to flight

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 feverfew

feverfew

Old English feferfuge, from Late Latin febrifugia, from Latin febris "fever" (see fever) + fugare "put to flight;" so called for its medical usage. The modern English word probably is from an Anglo-French source.