[as-uh-fet-i-duh] 
| a soft, brown, lumpy gum resin having a bitter, acrid taste and an obnoxious odor, obtained from the roots of several Near Eastern plants belonging to the genus Ferula, of the parsley family: formerly used in medicine as a carminative and antispasmodic. |
| as·a·fet·i·da also as·a·foet·i·da (ās'ə-fět'ĭ-də) n. A brownish, bitter, foul-smelling resinous material obtained from the roots of several plants of the genus Ferula in the parsley family and formerly used in medicine. [Middle English, from Medieval Latin : asa, gum (from Persian azā, mastic) + Latin fetida, feminine of fetidus, stinking; see fetid.] |