English
aconite
Aconite comes from French aconit ‘aconite, monkshood’, and goes back to Ancient Greek ἀκόνιτον.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀκόνιτονakóniton‘leopard's bane, Aconitum anthora’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaconītum‘any of the poisonous plants of the genus Aconitum’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentaconit‘aconite, monkshood’
- Englishearliest quotation 1936aconite
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀκόνιτονakóniton‘leopard's bane, Aconitum anthora’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaconītum‘any of the poisonous plants of the genus Aconitum’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentaconit‘aconite, monkshood’
- Englishearliest quotation 1936aconite
Earliest quotation: 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art: “Witches always anointed themselves with ointments before departing up…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ken- ‘dust’
recent, nod, nosh, incinerate, recency, cinerea, nookie, 19 more
Today it means
noun The herb wolfsbane, or monkshood; any plant of the genus Aconitum, all the species of which are poisonous.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἀκόνιτον / aconite