IPECAC

TileHead’s Word of the Day for 24 June 2011

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IPECAC  (n. pl. - S)

Definition(s):

1. (n.) a low-lying South American plant, the dried roots and stalks of which can be used to induce vomiting or perspiration

Useful information for game players:

• Front hooks: (none)
• Back hooks: -S
• Anagrams: ICECAP
• Longer extensions: -UANHA, -UANHAS
• Wraparounds: (none)
• Other Spellings: (none)
• Related Forms: IPECACUANHA

Epilogue:
IPECAC was used in various cough and cold medicines in the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries, and until fairly recently doctors recommended keeping “ipecac syrup” in the house in case of accidental ingestion of poison.  Needless to say, none of these uses is recommended today.  The word is a shortened form of the full name of the plant, IPECACUANHA.  English borrowed this unusual word from Portuguese, but it derives from Tupi-Guarani, a family of languages spoken in South America, where it fittingly meant “low plant causing vomit.”

Recapping this week's words: IKEBANA, ISOGRIV, IATRIC, INFAUNA, and IPECAC

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