mandrake

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a Mediterranean plant of the genus Mandragora with a thick often forked root and toxic tropane alkaloids

   The mandrake bears yellow fruit above a rosette of broad leaves.

2. 2
   noun

   the root of this plant, historically used in medicine and associated with fertility, magic, and a humanlike shape

   Legend claimed that a mandrake could scream when pulled from the earth.

From Middle English mandrake, reshaped from Old English and Medieval Latin mandragora, ultimately Greek mandragoras. English replaced the obscure ending with drake, perhaps through association with dragons. The forked root's humanlike form encouraged extensive medicinal and magical folklore.

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