pellitory

British  

/ -trɪ, ˈpɛlɪtərɪ /

noun

1. any of various urticaceous plants of the S and W European genus Parietaria, esp P. diffusa ( pellitory-of-the-wall or wall pellitory ), that grow in crevices and have long narrow leaves and small pink flowers

2. a small Mediterranean plant, Anacyclus pyrethrum, the root of which contains an oil formerly used to relieve toothache: family Asteraceae (composites)

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Etymology

Origin of pellitory

C16 peletre, from Old French piretre, from Latin pyrethrum, from Greek purethron, from pur fire, from the hot pungent taste of the root

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pellitory

Two years after the army's evacuation, the entire perimeter wall of the barracks was covered with more than twenty different species: among them, capers, snapdragons, lots of spreading pellitory, and several small ferns.

From Salon ● Mar. 22, 2020

The root is the officinal pellitory, and is used as an irritant and sialogogue.

From The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary Section P and Q by Project Gutenberg

Tufts of weeds outline the paving-stones; the walls are scored by enormous cracks, and the blackened coping is laced with a thousand festoons of pellitory.

From La Grande Breteche by Marriage, Ellen

The filament is generally continuous from one end to the other, but in some cases it is bent or jointed, becoming geniculate; at other times, as in the pellitory, it is spiral.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

A small piece of the pellitory root will, by the flow of saliva it causes, afford relief.

From The Book of Household Management by Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary)