tormentil

[tawr-men-til]

noun

1. a low European plant, Potentilla erecta, of the rose family, having small, bright-yellow flowers, and a strongly astringent root used in medicine and in tanning and dyeing.

tormentil

/ ˈtɔːməntɪl /

noun

1. Also called: bloodroot. a rosaceous downy perennial plant, Potentilla erecta, of Europe and W Asia, having serrated leaves, four-petalled yellow flowers, and an astringent root used in medicine, tanning, and dyeing

Word History and Origins

Origin of tormentil¹

1350–1400; Middle English tormentille < Medieval Latin tormentilla, equivalent to Latin torment ( um ) torment + -illa diminutive suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of tormentil¹

C15: from Old French tormentille, from Medieval Latin tormentilla, from Latin tormentum agony; referring to its use in relieving pain; see _torment

Example Sentences

These include tufted vetch, bugle, tormentil, red clover, lady's bedstraw, white campion and greater knapweed.

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Here and there a yellow tormentil showed in the grass, a late harebell or a few shreds of purple bloom on a brown, crisping tuft of self-heal.

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Sometimes they scuttled along open turf, colored like a tapestry meadow with self-heal, centaury and tormentil.

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See Sanguinaria. µ In England the name is given to the tormentil, once used as a remedy for dysentery.

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Tormentil, tor′men-til, n. a genus of plants, one species with an astringent woody root.

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