aconitum
/ˌakəˈnʌɪtəm/noun
1A preparation or extract of the root of an aconite (genus Aconitum), especially A. napellus, used as a drug (now mainly in alternative forms of medicine) or as a poison.
2Any of various perennial plants of the Eurasian genus Aconitum (family Ranunculaceae), which comprises the aconites. Also (in form Aconitum): the genus itself.
- Valid publication of the genus name: Linnaeus Species Plantarum (1753) I. 532..
Origin
Late Middle English; earliest use found in Macer's Herbal. From classical Latin aconītum plant of the genus Aconitum, this plant used as a poison from ancient Greek ἀκόνιτον the plant Aconitum anthora, in Hellenistic Greek also Aconitum napellus, of uncertain origin.