beladona

Etymology

Italian belladonna (bella donna, literally “beautiful lady”), altered by folk etymology from Medieval Latin bladona (“nightshade”), from Gaulish *blātōnā, blātunā, from Proto-Celtic *blātus (“flower”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰléh₃tus, from *bʰleh₃- (“blossom, flower”). The folk etymology was motivated by the cosmetic use of nightshade for dilating the eyes.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌbɛ.lɐˈdo.nɐ/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌbɛ.laˈdo.na/

Noun

beladona f (plural beladonas)

1. belladonna, deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna)

Etymology

Italian belladonna (bella donna, literally “beautiful lady”), altered by folk etymology from Medieval Latin bladona (“nightshade”), from Gaulish *blātōnā, blātunā, from Proto-Celtic *blātus (“flower”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰléh₃tus, from *bʰleh₃- (“blossom, flower”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beladǒːna/
• Hyphenation: be‧la‧do‧na

Noun

beladóna f (Cyrillic spelling беладо́на)

1. belladonna, deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna)