digitalis

[ dij-i-tal-is, -tey-lis ]

noun
  1. any plant belonging to the genus Digitalis, of the figwort family, especially the common foxglove, D. purpurea.

  2. the dried leaves of the foxglove, Digitalis purpurea, used in medicine as a heart stimulant.

Origin of digitalis

1
1655–65; <New Latin digitālis, a name apparently suggested by the German name for the foxglove, Fingerhut literally, thimble; see digital

Words Nearby digitalis

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use digitalis in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for digitalis

digitalis

/ (ˌdɪdʒɪˈteɪlɪs) /


noun
  1. any Eurasian scrophulariaceous plant of the genus Digitalis, such as the foxglove, having bell-shaped flowers and a basal rosette of leaves

    • a drug prepared from the dried leaves or seeds of the foxglove: a mixture of glycosides used medicinally to treat heart failure and some abnormal heart rhythms

    • any cardiac glycoside, whatever its origin

Origin of digitalis

1
C17: from New Latin, from Latin: relating to a finger (referring to the corollas of the flower); based on German Fingerhut foxglove, literally: finger-hat or thimble

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for digitalis

digitalis

[ dĭj′ĭ-tălĭs ]


  1. A drug prepared from the seeds and dried leaves of the purple foxglove, Digitalis purpurea, and prescribed as a cardiac stimulant in the treatment of congestive heart failure and other disorders of the heart.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.