Etymology

mandrake

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Today it means: Any plant of the genus Mandragora, certain of which are said to have medicinal or aphrodisiac properties; the root of these plants often resembles the shape of a small person, hence occasioning various mythic, magical, or occult uses. Full definition →

Middle English mandrake ← Old English mandragora ← Medieval Latin mandragorās
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromμανδραγόρας
  2. Medieval Latin · derived frommandragorās
  3. Old English · inherited frommandragora
  4. Middle English · inherited frommandrake
  5. English todaymandrake

From Middle English mandrake, mandroke, an alteration of mandragora with the ending -dragora reinterpreted as related to dragon and replaced with native drake, from Old English mandragora, from Medieval Latin mandragorās, from Ancient Greek μανδραγόρας (mandragóras).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.