mandrake: [14] The mandrake is a Mediterranean plant of the potato family with medicinal uses. Its name is an alteration of mandragora, which goes back via Latin to Greek mandragóras, a word probably of non- Indo-European origin. The change arose owing to an association with man (the mandrake has a large forked root which supposedly resembles a human being) and drake ‘dragon’ (an allusion to the root’s supposedly magical properties).
mandrake (n.)
narcotic plant, early 14c., mondrake, from Medieval Latin mandragora, from Latin mandragoras, from Greek mandragoras, probably from a non-Indo-European word. The word was in late Old English in its Latin form; folk etymology associated the second element with dragoun and substituted native drake in its place. The forked root is thought to resemble a human body and is said to shriek when pulled from the ground.
双语例句
1. The antidote is made from mandrake roots ( CS 9 ) .
