aconite

noun ac·o·nite \ ˈa-kə-ˌnīt \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Definition of aconite

plural aconites

1 : monkshood

2 : the dried poisonous tuberous root of a common monkshood (Aconitum napellus) used especially formerly for its medicinal properties (as in relieving pain)

3 : winter aconite

… they began planting one million daffodil, crocus, and aconite bulbs.
—Walter Karp

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Origin and Etymology of aconite

borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French, borrowed from Latin aconītum, borrowed from Greek akónīton, perhaps of pre-Greek substratal origin

Note: The notion in late antiquity that the word was derived from Greek akonit́ī "without dust," hence, "without a struggle, effortless," referring to the efficacy of the poison, is fanciful.

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1548

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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