pennyroyal

[ pen-ee-roi-uhl ]

/ ˌpɛn iˈrɔɪ əl /

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noun

an aromatic Old World plant, Mentha pulegium, of the mint family, having clusters of small purple flowers and yielding a pungent essential oil used medicinally and as an insect repellent.

Also called mock pennyroyal. a similar, related plant, Hedeoma pulegioides, of eastern North America, having bluish flowers growing from the leaf axils.

any of several other aromatic plants of the mint family.

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Origin of pennyroyal

1520–30; penny + royal; replacing late Middle English puliol real<Anglo-French; Middle French poliol (<Latin *pūlēgiōlum, diminutive of pūlēgium pennyroyal) + real, earlier form of royal

Words nearby pennyroyal

penny-farthing, penny loafer, penny pincher, penny-pinching, penny post, pennyroyal, penny shares, penny stock, pennyweight, penny whistle, penny-wise

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use pennyroyal in a sentence

And Kurt was so happy with it that a few months later he asked me to do another video for them for a song called “Pennyroyal Tea.”
How Nirvana Shot the ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ Video|Andrew Romano|September 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I told her to bring me some pennyroyal along from the field next the quarry.
Patchwork|Anna Balmer Myers
Aunt Maria told me you were here—she is impatient for her pennyroyal.
Patchwork|Anna Balmer Myers
There were no iron-clad rules in this comfortable household, especially when Pennyroyal, the help, was away.
David Dunne|Belle Kanaris Maniates

The school year ended and Pennyroyal, the “hired help,” who had been paying her annual visit to her sister, came back to the farm.
David Dunne|Belle Kanaris Maniates
Pennyroyal baked griddle-sized cakes, delivering them one at a time direct from 115 the stove to the consumer.
David Dunne|Belle Kanaris Maniates

British Dictionary definitions for pennyroyal

pennyroyal

/ (ˌpɛnɪˈrɔɪəl) /

noun

a Eurasian plant, Mentha pulegium, with hairy leaves and small mauve flowers, that yields an aromatic oil used in medicine: family Lamiaceae (labiates)

Also called: mock pennyroyal a similar and related plant, Hedeoma pulegioides, of E North America

Word Origin for pennyroyal

C16: variant of Anglo-Norman puliol real, from Old French pouliol (from Latin pūleium pennyroyal) + real royal

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