foxglove

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English foxes glove,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English foxes glōfa (“fox's glove”),^[5][6][7][2] with foxes, the genitive of fox, and glōfa, also glōf (“glove, pouch”).^[2][3] The glove part is explained by the flower, which is shaped like the finger of a glove;^[5][6][8] the scientific name Digitalis is from Latin digitus (“finger”), and German Fingerhut (“thimble”) is the German word for the plant.^[6][9] Why the plant was linked with the fox is not known.^[5][6][9] The OED compares Norwegian revbjelde (“fox bell”),^[5] and Etymonline other Old English plant names such as foxesfot (“fox's foot”) and foxesclate (“fox's bur, burdock”).^[6] Liberman notes that the Old English name may have belonged to a different plant, but that the fox is already there, so nothing was "corrupted";^[10] Bosworth–Toller cites Cockayne's view that the plant of the Old English herbal passage was not foxglove.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The plant Digitalis purpurea: Old English, in the Saxon Leechdoms, about 1000.^[5][7] Merriam-Webster dates the word to before the 12th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Skeat defended the plain meaning "fox's glove" and explained such animal names of plants as childish names, which children liked;^[10] Liberman finds that he dismissed the question too quickly, since no one has explained why the Anglo-Saxons chose the fox.^[10] From 1587 the name was also given to other plants, such as the mullein.^[5][2] From 1801 it was used in medicine for the drug digitalis, made from its leaves.^[5][9]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – foxes glōfa, the plant Digitalis purpurea.^[5][7]
• 1587 – other plants, such as the mullein.^[5]
• 1801 – the drug digitalis, made from the plant.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tall European plant of the genus Digitalis, especially Digitalis purpurea, with spikes of purple or white tubular flowers shaped like thimbles; its leaves are the source of digitalis.^[11][2][5]
2. Any of several other plants of the genus or of related genera.^[2][5]
3. (dialect, England) The mullein.^[2][5]

Related words

• fox
• glove
• digitalis

Usage notes

Brewer explained the name as a corruption of folks' glove, the glove of the fairies, and Hendrickson also mentions this guess;^[12][9] Liberman rejects such corruptions, since the Old English form already has fox.^[10] Other folk names of the plant are fairy bell, fairy glove and finger-flower.^[2][9]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b c d e Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File
10. ^ a b c d Liberman, Anatoly, The Oxford Etymologist (blog column), OUPblog, blog.oup.com, p. "Etymologists at War with a Flower: Foxglove", 10 November 2010
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Brewer, E. Cobham (1898), Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, new ed., London: Cassell