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gelsemium

[jel-see-mee-uh m]
noun, plural gel·se·mi·ums, gel·se·mi·a [jel-see-mee-uh] /dʒɛlˈsi mi ə/.
  1. the dried rhizome and root of yellow jasmine, formerly used as a sedative in the form of a powder, tincture, or fluid extract.
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Origin of gelsemium

1870–75; < New Latin < Italian gelsom(ino) jasmine + Latin -ium -ium
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for gelsemium

Historical Examples

  • Gelsemium is a very powerful agent for depressing the pulse and the functional activity of the spinal cord.

    Insomnia; and Other Disorders of Sleep

    Henry M. Lyman

  • Gelsemium is sometimes a very satisfactory remedy—especially in the febrile attacks to which children are liable.

  • Feverish and irritable conditions yield frequently to aperients, or to gelsemium and quinine.

  • The British Pharmacopoeia contains a tincture of gelsemium, the dose of which is from five to fifteen minims.

British Dictionary definitions for gelsemium

gelsemium

noun plural -miums or -mia (-mɪə)
  1. any climbing shrub of the loganiaceous genus Gelsemium, of SE Asia and North America, esp the yellow jasmine, having fragrant yellow flowers
  2. the powdered root of the yellow jasmine, formerly used as a sedative
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Word Origin

C19: New Latin, from Italian gelsomino jasmine
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