ipecacuanha

English

Etymology

From Brazilian Portuguese ipecacuanha, from Old Tupi ypekakûãîa, from ypeka (duck) +‎ akûãîa (penis).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɪpɪkakjuːˈænə/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Noun

ipecacuanha (countable and uncountable, plural ipecacuanhas)

  1. (medicine, pharmaceutics) The root of Carapichea ipecacuanha, used as an emetic or purgative; a preparation of this root used as a drug; ipecac. [from 17th c.]
    • 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter CCXI”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: [], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: [] S[amuel] Richardson;  [], →OCLC:
      This ipecacuanha is a most disagreeable medicine!
    • 2022, Seth Garfield, Guaraná [] , Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN:
      A general labor “shortage” crimped Amazonian drug supply chains: the difficulty of procuring ipecacuanha, for example, stemmed not only from the health hazards of the emetic's acrid juice and pungent dust to workers but from bosses' reluctance to reassign indebted rubber tappers to uproot the plant.
  2. (medicine, pharmaceutics) The flowering plant Carapichea ipecacuanha. [from 18th c.]

Derived terms

Translations

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 
  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /i.pe.ka.kuˈɐ̃.ɲɐ/ [i.pe.ka.kʊˈɐ̃.j̃ɐ], (faster pronunciation) /i.pe.kaˈkwɐ̃.ɲɐ/ [i.pe.kaˈkwɐ̃.j̃ɐ]
    • (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /i.pe.ka.kuˈɐ.ɲa/ [i.pe.ka.kʊˈɐ.ɲa], (faster pronunciation) /i.pe.kaˈkwɐ.ɲa/
 

  • Hyphenation: i‧pe‧ca‧cu‧a‧nha

Noun

ipecacuanha f (plural ipecacuanhas)

  1. ipecacuanha (flowering plant)