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henbane

American  
[hen-beyn] / ˈhɛnˌbeɪn /

noun

  1. an Old World plant, Hyoscyamus niger, of the nightshade family, having sticky, hairy fetid foliage and greenish-yellow flowers, and possessing narcotic and poisonous properties especially destructive to domestic fowls.


henbane British  
/ ˈhɛnˌbeɪn /

noun

  1. a poisonous solanaceous European plant, Hyoscyamus niger, with sticky hairy leaves and funnel-shaped greenish flowers: yields the drug hyoscyamine

"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

Etymology

Origin of henbane

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; hen, bane

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Pliny the Elder, Plutarch, and others wrote about black henbane, along with its closely related but less potent relatives, white and yellow henbane.

From Science Magazine • Feb. 7, 2024

The Solanaceae family is a vast one with more than 2,500 members including tomatoes, potatoes, chillies, aubergines, peppers, tobacco, deadly nightshade and henbane.

From BBC • Jul. 10, 2023

We don’t know if Leonidas’s performance was enhanced by ingestion of Pythia gases or black henbane because no records survive from the ancient version of the Greek antidoping agency.

From New York Times • Aug. 13, 2016

A Babylonian clay tablet advises treating the pain of a burrowing 'tooth worm', which is thought to be the cause of caries, by plugging the hole with gum mastic and powdered henbane seeds.

From Nature • Jul. 12, 2016

“Juice of henbane, black and deadly,” she said.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein