fumitory

American  

[fyoo-mi-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / ˈfju mɪˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

noun

• fumitories
  plural

1. any plant of the genus Fumaria, especially a delicate herb, F. officinalis, having finely dissected, grayish leaves and spikes of purplish flowers.

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fumitory British  

/ ˈfjuːmɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

noun

1. any plant of the chiefly European genus Fumaria , esp F. officinalis , having spurred flowers and formerly used medicinally: family Fumariaceae

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fumitories
  plural

Etymology

Origin of fumitory

1350–1400; alteration of earlier fumiterre, Middle English fumetere < Middle French < Medieval Latin fūmus terrae literally, smoke of the earth; literal sense uncertain

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fumitory fumitories

I think it is the prettiest of modern flowers, but I wish we might call it Japan fumitory, or by some English name.'

From The Trial by Charlotte Mary Yonge

Some fumitory appeared this summer in a field of barley; till then I had not observed any for some time in that district.

From Nature Near London by Richard Jefferies

I think we may see this even in a small flower like the fumitory, in which one portion is deep purple and all the rest of the blossoms a delicate pink.

From Birds and Man by W. H. (William Henry) Hudson

The climbing fumitory comes up of itself from seed every year, and is now running over bushes, stakes, and strings, and is full of fern-like leaves and flesh-colored flowers.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 299, September 24, 1881 by Various

And down … the furrow dry Sunspurge and oxeye And laced-leaved lovely Foam-tuft fumitory      .

From Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins Now First Published by Robert Seymour Bridges

All the fumitories prefer a light soil and a sunny position.

From Small Gardens and How to Make the Most of Them by Violet Purton Biddle

The fumitories are elegant plants, and nearly always in flower; the blossoms are small, yellow, sometimes white, and borne in profusion amongst the finely-cut foliage, which, the whole summer through, is a bright clear green.

From Small Gardens and How to Make the Most of Them by Violet Purton Biddle