scammony

American  

[skam-uh-nee] / ˈskæm ə ni /

noun

plural

scammonies

1. a twining, Asian convolvulus, Convolvulus scammonia.

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scammony British  

/ skæˈməʊnɪɪt, ˈskæmənɪ /

noun

1. a twining Asian convolvulus plant, Convolvulus scammonia, having arrow-shaped leaves, white or purple flowers, and tuberous roots

2. a resinous juice obtained from the roots of this plant and having purgative properties

3. any of various similar medicinal resins or the plants that yield them

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Other Word Forms

• scammoniate
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of scammony

before 1000; Middle English scamonie, Old English < Latin scamōnia < Greek skamōnía

Example Sentences

It is not scammony that causes purging but a property that scammony has that requires further investigation.

From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022

The duty received for scammony, in 1842, was £607.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by Simmonds, P. L.

They are cowhage, scammony, male fern root, calomel, gamboge, tin, and turpentine.

From Enquire Within Upon Everything The Great Victorian Domestic Standby by Anonymous

Convolvulus scammonia.—This plant furnishes the scammony of the druggists.

From Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture by Saunders, William

The chief vegetable purgatives are aloes, colocynth, gamboge, jalap, scammony, seeds of castor-oil plant, croton-oil, elaterium, the hellebores, and colchicum.

From Aids to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology by Robertson, W. G. Aitchison (William George Aitchison )