hermodactyl

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noun

A type of root, probably from a plant of the genus Colchicum, as imported and used in Western medicine.

OriginMedieval Latin hermodactylus ← Ancient Greek ἑρμοδάκτυλος →
Scrabble 22
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Meanings

nounhermodactyl (plural hermodactyls)

plural hermodactyls

  1. obsoleteA type of root, probably from a plant of the genus Colchicum, as imported and used in Western medicine.

    […] turbith, agaric, myrobolanes, hermodactyls, from the East Indies, tobacco from the West […]

    1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section 4, member 1, subsection 2

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekἑρμοδάκτυλος“Hermes's finger”
  2. Medieval Latinhermodactylus
  3. Englishhermodactyl

From Medieval Latin hermodactylus, from Ancient Greek ἑρμοδάκτυλος (hermodáktulos, “Hermes's finger”).

More words from Medieval Latin, Ancient Greek

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Cite this entry
APA

hermodactyl. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hermodactyl

MLA

“hermodactyl.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hermodactyl. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hermodactyl,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hermodactyl.

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