senega

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   historical: gum arabic obtained in or exported from the Senegal region, used especially in dyeing and manufacturing

   Eighteenth-century customs schedules listed gum senega among imported dyeing materials.

2. 2
   noun

   the dried root of Seneca snakeroot, formerly used medicinally as an expectorant

   The old dispensary kept powdered senega for use in cough preparations.

3. 3
   noun

   the North American milkwort plant Polygala senega, whose root was used medicinally

   Senega grows naturally in parts of eastern and central North America.

The gum sense is a shortened form of Senegal gum, named for the West African region from which the product was exported. The medicinal-root sense is a variant of Seneca, named for the Indigenous Seneca people, from whom European settlers learned of the plant's use.

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