mandrake









mandrake


mandrake [man-dreyk, -drik] ExamplesWord Origin noun

  1. a narcotic, short-stemmed European plant, Mandragora officinarum, of the nightshade family, having a fleshy, often forked root somewhat resembling a human form.
  2. the May apple.

Origin of mandrake 1275–1325; Middle English, variant of mandrage (short for mandragora), taken by folk etymology as man1 + drake2 Examples from the Web for mandrake Contemporary Examples of mandrake

  • “As things stand, Catherine and her family do not feel confident about her going to Norfolk,” one of her friends tells Mandrake.

    Kate Middleton To Miss Royal Christmas As She Battles Sickness

    Tom Sykes

    December 17, 2012

  • Historical Examples of mandrake

  • So much for the mandrake, of which, however, a good deal more might be said.

    Storyology

    Benjamin Taylor

  • The mandrake was clearly a surrogate of the shell or vice versa.

    The Evolution of the Dragon

    G. Elliot Smith

  • The attempt to dig up the mandrake was said to be fraught with great danger.

    The Evolution of the Dragon

    G. Elliot Smith

  • The complementary story is told of the mandrake in mediæval Europe.

    The Evolution of the Dragon

    G. Elliot Smith

  • In other words the mandrake was part of the same substance as the earth didi.

    The Evolution of the Dragon

    G. Elliot Smith

  • British Dictionary definitions for mandrake mandrake mandragora (mænˈdræɡərə) noun

    1. a Eurasian solanaceous plant, Mandragora officinarum, with purplish flowers and a forked root. It was formerly thought to have magic powers and a narcotic was prepared from its root
    2. another name for the May apple

    Word Origin for mandrake C14: probably via Middle Dutch from Latin mandragoras (whence Old English mandragora), from Greek. The form mandrake was probably adopted through folk etymology, because of the allegedly human appearance of the root and because drake (dragon) suggested magical powers Word Origin and History for mandrake n.

    narcotic plant, early 14c., mondrake, from Medieval Latin mandragora, from Latin mandragoras, from Greek mandragoras, probably from a non-Indo-European word. The word was in late Old English in its Latin form; folk etymology associated the second element with dragoun and substituted native drake in its place. The forked root is thought to resemble a human body and is said to shriek when pulled from the ground.

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