feverfew

[ fee-ver-fyoo ]

/ ˈfi vərˌfyu /

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noun

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

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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

Words nearby feverfew

Feuerbach, Feuillant, feuilleton, fever, fever blister, feverfew, fever heat, feverish, feverishly, feverous, fever pitch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use feverfew in a sentence

They sat down on the sour stony land among the rag-wort and teazles and feverfew.
Plashers Mead|Compton Mackenzie
When she comes out of her bath, give her an ounce of syrup of feverfew with a drachm of dog's tooth (mithridate).
The Works of Aristotle the Famous Philosopher|Anonymous
If she be of full habit of body open a vein, after preparing her with syrup of betony, calamint, hyssop and feverfew.
The Works of Aristotle the Famous Philosopher|Anonymous
Pellitory, pel′i-tor-i, n. a genus of plants found most commonly on old walls and heaps of rubbish: the feverfew.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)|Various

Feverfew is said to be "good for such as be melancholike, sad, pensive, and without speech."
Chapters in the History of the Insane in the British Isles|Daniel Hack Tuke

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