digitalis
digitalis Lexical Profile
digitalis Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A potent cardiac medication prepared from the dried leaves of the common foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), containing glycosides such as digoxin and digitoxin used to stimulate heart muscle contraction and regulate cardiac arrhythmias.
"The cardiologist prescribed a carefully measured dose of digitalis to help manage the patient's atrial fibrillation."
Any biennial or perennial flowering plant of the genus Digitalis (commonly called foxglove) in the family Plantaginaceae, native to Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa, cultivated as an ornamental for its tall spikes of tubular, bell-shaped blossoms in shades of purple, pink, white, or yellow.
"Tall spikes of purple digitalis bloomed along the shaded border of the cottage garden."
• Rhymes for digitalis
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-16th century from Modern Latin digitalis, from Latin digitus ('finger'), coined by German botanist Leonhart Fuchs in 1542 as a loan-translation of the German plant name Fingerhut ('thimble', literally 'finger-hat'), referring to the tubular, finger-like shape of the blossoms.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.