Fumitory
/ˈfjuː.mɪ.tɔː.ri/noun
A plant of the poppy family with delicate flowers, especially common fumitory.
Did you know?Fumitory’s name was linked in medieval Latin to the idea that its pale, smoky look or acrid smell rose from the ground like earthly vapor, and it was long used in traditional medicine as a cleansing herb.
Etymological Timeline
Late Latin
LL
fumus terrae
“literally “smoke of the earth,” a descriptive herbal name”
Old French
OF
fumeterre
“fumitory, the herb”
Middle English
ME
fumetere
“fumitory”
16th Century
English
fumitory
“the plant fumitory, especially common fumitory”
Modern English
English
fumitory
“a herbaceous plant in the poppy family”