Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
manchineel [man-chuh-neel] ExamplesWord Origin noun
- a tropical American tree or shrub, Hippomane mancinella, of the spurge family, having a milky, highly caustic, poisonous sap.
Origin of manchineel 1620–30; earlier mancinell, mançanilla French mancenille and its source, Spanish manzanilla, diminutive of manzana apple, Old Spanish mazana Latin (māla) Matiāna (apples) of Matius Roman author of a cooking manual (1st century b.c.) Examples from the Web for manchineel Historical Examples of manchineel
There is nothing for her to do but to die under the manchineel tree.
Gustav Kobb
The poison in this case is supposed to have been the Manchineel (Hippomane).
G. F. Scott Elliot
Well, then, how does Selika commit suicide in the Africaine by lying down in the shade of a manchineel?
Armando Palacio Valds
Nelusko seeks her, finds her dead, and himself seeks death beside her under the fatal branches of the manchineel.
Gustav Kobb
Those are manchineel apples; with their milky juice the old Caribs were wont to poison the barbs of their parrot-feathered arrows.
Two Years in the French West Indies
Lafcadio Hearn
British Dictionary definitions for manchineel manchineel noun
- a tropical American euphorbiaceous tree, Hippomane mancinella, having fruit and milky highly caustic poisonous sap, which causes skin blisters
Word Origin for manchineel C17: via French from Spanish manzanilla