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Deadly nightshade

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bel⋅la⋅don⋅na

  [bel-uh-don-uh]
–noun
1. Also called deadly nightshade. a poisonous plant, Atropa belladonna, of the nightshade family, having purplish-red flowers and black berries.
2. Pharmacology. a drug from the leaves and root of this plant, containing atropine and related alkaloids: used in medicine to check secretions and spasms, to relieve pain or dizziness, and as a cardiac and respiratory stimulant.
Origin:
1590–1600; < It bella donna lit., fair lady (so called because it is said to have been used by women to dilate the pupils of the eyes and to create an artificial pallor). See belle, donna
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Deadly nightshade
bel·la·don·na   (běl'ə-dŏn'ə)   
n.  

  1. A poisonous Eurasian perennial herb (Atropa belladonna) having usually solitary, nodding, purplish-brown, bell-shaped flowers and glossy black berries. Also called deadly nightshade.

  2. An alkaloidal extract or tincture derived from this plant and used in medicine.


[Italian : bella, feminine of bello, beautiful (from Latin bellus; see deu-2 in Indo-European roots) + donna, lady; see Donna.]
bittersweet nightshade  
n.  A poisonous climbing or trailing plant (Solanum dulcamara) native to Eurasia and a widespread weed in North America, having violet flowers with recurved corolla lobes and red berries. Also called bittersweet, deadly nightshade.

[After its roots, which are said to taste bitter, then sweet when chewed.]
deadly nightshade  
n.  

  1. See belladonna.

  2. See bittersweet nightshade.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

belladonna 
1597, "deadly nightshade" (Atropa belladonna), from It., lit. "fair lady," supposedly because women made cosmetics from its juice (it has a well-known property of making the pupils of the eyes enlarge) or because it was used to poison beautiful women.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: bel·la·don·na
Pronunciation: "bel-&-'dän-&
Function: noun
1 : an Old World poisonous plant of the genusAtropa (A. belladonna) having purple or green bell-shaped flowers, glossy black berries, and a root and leaves that yield atropine called also deadly nightshade
2 : a medicinal preparation (as atropine) extracted from the belladonna plant and containing anticholinergic alkaloids

Main Entry: deadly nightshade
Function: noun
: BELLADONNA 1
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

belladonna bel·la·don·na (běl'ə-dŏn'ə)
n.

  1. A poisonous Eurasian perennial herb having usually solitary, purplish-brown, bell-shaped flowers and glossy black berries. Also called deadly nightshade.

  2. An alkaloidal extract or tincture derived from this plant.

deadly nightshade dead·ly nightshade (děd'lē)
n.
See belladonna.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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