moxa

[ mok-suh ]

noun

1. a flammable substance or material obtained from the leaves of certain Chinese and Japanese wormwood plants, especially Artemisia moxa.
2. this substance or a similar one of cotton, wool, or the like, placed on the skin usually in the form of a cone or cylinder and ignited for use as a counterirritant.

moxa

/ ˈmɒksə /

noun

1. a downy material obtained from various plants and used in Oriental medicine by being burned on the skin as a cauterizing agent or counterirritant for the skin
2. any of various plants yielding this material, such as the wormwood Artemisia chinensis

Word History and Origins

Origin of moxa¹

1670–80; by uncertain mediation < Japanese mogusa, equivalent to mo ( y ) e burn + -gusa, combining form of kusa herb

Word History and Origins

Origin of moxa¹

C17: anglicized version of Japanese mogusa, contraction of moe gusa burning herb

Example Sentences

I meet Stoker, great-grandnephew of Dracula author Bram Stoker, in the lobby café of Bucharest’s Moxa Hotel.

From Slate

I made the experiment, setting the moxa where… the greatest anger and soreness still continued.

From Project Gutenberg

Fire is a great agent, and the moxa recommended in almost every ailment, while acupuncture is in general use both in China and Japan; bathing and champooing are also frequently recommended, but blood-letting is seldom resorted to.

From Project Gutenberg

I burned him with the first moxa.

From Project Gutenberg

Moxa, mok′sa, n. a cottony material for cauterising, prepared in China and Japan from Artemisia Moxa, &c.: a cone of cotton-wool placed on the skin and fired at the top for cauterisation.—n.

From Project Gutenberg