derris

D2E1R1R1I1S1

noun

A climbing leguminous plant of Southeast Asia and the southwest Pacific Islands, Derris elliptica, whose roots are a source of rotenone.

Origintranslingual Derris ← Ancient Greek δέρρις →
Scrabble 7
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounderris (uncountable)
  1. uncountableA climbing leguminous plant of Southeast Asia and the southwest Pacific Islands, Derris elliptica, whose roots are a source of rotenone.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekδέρρις“leather, skin”
  2. translingualDerris
  3. Englishderris

From New Latin and translingual Derris, from Ancient Greek δέρρις (dérrhis, “leather, skin”), referring to the leathery pods, from δέρω (dérō, “I skin, I flay”).

More words from translingual, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

derris. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/derris

MLA

“derris.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/derris. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “derris,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/derris.

Source: derris on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.