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rauwolfia

American  
[raw-wool-fee-uh, rou-] / rɔˈwʊl fi ə, raʊ- /

noun

  1. any tropical tree or shrub of the genus Rauwolfia, as R. serpentina, of India.

  2. an extract from the roots of the rauwolfia, R. serpentina, containing alkaloids the most important of which is reserpine: used in medicine chiefly for the treatment of hypertension and as a sedative.

rauwolfia British  
/ rɔːˈwʊlfɪə, raʊ- /

noun

  1. any tropical tree or shrub of the apocynaceous genus Rauwolfia , esp R. serpentina of SE Asia

  2. the powdered root of R. serpentina : a source of various drugs, esp reserpine

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of rauwolfia

1745–55; < New Latin, named after L. Rauwolf, 16th-century German botanist; see -ia

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.