digitalis

Etymology

Modern Latin, from Latin digitālis (“of the fingers”) (named with reference to the German common name for the plant, Fingerhut (“thimble”)).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪdʒɪˈtɑːlɪs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /dɪdʒɪˈtælɪs/, /dɪdʒɪˈteɪlɪs/

Noun

digitalis (plural digitalises)

1. Any plant of the genus Digitalis (herbaceous plants of the Plantaginaceae family, including the foxglove, Digitalis purpurea).
   • James Moore, Gardens of the Misses Garnier in 1834, The Gardener’s Magazine, and Register of Rural & Domestic Improvement, volume 19, page 210:

     11. Delphiniums and digitalises.

   • 1836, Joseph Harrison, The Floricultural Cabinet, and Florists’ Magazine, volume 4, page 133:

     At the Medico-Botanical Society on Tuesday, Dr. Morries, made some some observations on opium, digitales, conium, and hyoscyamus, and exhibited specimens of oils obtained from the latter plants.

   • 1903, American Florist, volume 19, page 555:

     Polemoniums of various species, aubretias, dwarf phloxes, delphiniums, digitalises, gerums, erigerons and a number of other things have bloomed a second time […]

2. A medical extract of Digitalis purpurea prescribed for heart failure etc.
   • 1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin 2010, p. 188:

     ‘You very nearly died. I had to give you digitalis three times.’

   • 2001, Leslie Iversen, Drugs: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford 2001, p. 25:

     The ancient remedy digitalis, extracted from the foxglove plant, for example, acts by blocking sodium channels in heart muscle, preventing potentially dangerous overactivity.

Noun

digitalis

1. digitalis (medical extract)

Etymology

digitus (“finger, toe”) +‎ -ālis.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /di.ɡiˈtaː.lis/, [dɪ.ɡɪˈtaː.lɪs]

Adjective

digitālis (neuter digitāle); third declension

1. Of or belonging to the finger

References

• digitalis in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• digitalis in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• digitalis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette