English Explanatory Dictionary

bezoar

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A mass, usually of hair or undigested vegetable matter, found in a human or animal's intestines, similar to a hairball.
  2. An enterolith.

Pronunciation

bēʹzōr /ˈbi.zɔɹ/ /ˈbiː.zɔː/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bezoar.wav

Word forms

bezoar bezoars bezoard

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish bezoar and/or French bézoard, based on Arabic بَازَهْر (bāzahr), from Middle Persian pʾtzhl (pādzahr, “bezoar, antidote”), from a compound of words meaning “to protect” and “poison” (literally “killing thing”), thus a bezoar was “that which protects against poison”. In ancient times, bezoars from animals were ground up and ingested as remedies for various maladies and as antidotes to poisons.

Synonyms

bezoar stone

Derived words

bezoar antelope bezoardic bezoar goat bezoar ibex bezoar mineral diospyrobezoar pharmacobezoar phytobezoar pseudobezoar trichobezoar
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