belladonna

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌbɛləˈdɒnə/ (UK); /ˌbɛləˈdɑnə/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian belladonna (“beautiful lady”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from bella “beautiful” and donna “lady”.^[2][4][6] A common explanation is that women used the juice to dilate their pupils or as a cosmetic,^[3][4][6] but Etymonline thinks the name more likely a folk etymology of a medieval Latin plant name such as belulidus.^[4] It is related to belle and donna.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) (1597), introduced into English in Gerard's herbal.^[3][4][5][7]

Semantic evolution

The name had been recorded by the Italian botanist Andrea Matthioli as herba bella donna,^[4] and it largely displaced the native English names dwale and morel.^[4] From 1788 it also named the drug prepared from the plant's leaves and root.^[7]

Timeline

• 1597 – the plant, in Gerard's herbal.^[3][4][5][7]
• 1734 – belladonna lily.^[7]
• 1788 – the drug from the plant.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A poisonous Eurasian plant (Atropa belladonna) of the nightshade family, with purplish bell-shaped flowers and glossy black berries; deadly nightshade.
2. A medicinal extract from this plant, containing atropine.

Related words

• nightshade
• atropine
• belle
• donna

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press