a bitter resin with an unpleasant onion-like smell, obtained from the roots of some umbelliferous plants of the genus Ferula: formerly used as a carminative, antispasmodic, and expectorant
Word origin
C14: from Medieval Latin, from asa gum (compare Persian azā mastic) + Latin foetidus evil-smelling, fetid
Examples of 'asafoetida' in a sentence
asafoetida
`His breath smells worse than asafoetida, and the grease he uses on his moustaches stinks like a civet cat on heat.
Fidelis Morgan THE RIVAL QUEENS: A COUNTESS ASHBY DE LA ZOUCHE MYSTERY (2002)