veratrum

See also: Veratrum

English

Wikispecies

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vērātrum (“hellebore”).

Noun

veratrum (plural veratrums)

1. Any of various poisonous herbs of the genus Veratrum

Synonyms

• (herb): corn lily, false hellebore

Related terms

• veratrine
• veratridine

Latin

Etymology

Unclear: perhaps from vērē (“truly, verily”) +‎ āter (“dull black, dark”), or perhaps related to vērō (“to tell the truth”) on the grounds that it cures people of their mental illness, or perhaps a separate derivation from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist, writhe”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /u̯eːˈraː.trum/, [u̯eːˈräːt̪rʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /veˈra.trum/, [veˈräːt̪rum]

Noun

vērātrum n (genitive vērātrī); second declension

1. hellebore

   Synonym: elleborus

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	vērātrum	vērātra
genitive	vērātrī	vērātrōrum
dative	vērātrō	vērātrīs
accusative	vērātrum	vērātra
ablative	vērātrō	vērātrīs
vocative	vērātrum	vērātra

Descendants

• Asturian: beledru
• Catalan: baladre

References

• “veratrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “veratrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers