pyrethrum

Etymology

Old English peretreo, from (and later reformed after) Latin pyrethrum (in Pliny), from Hellenistic Ancient Greek πύρεθρον (púrethron).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /paɪˈɹiθɹəm/

Noun

pyrethrum (plural pyrethrums)

1. Any of several daisy-like perennial African plants of the genus Tanacetum, especially Tanacetum cinerariifolium. [from 10th c.]
   • 1986, Ngũgī wa Thiong'o, Decolonising the Mind, Heinemann 2005, p. 10:

     We children would re-tell the stories the following day to other children who worked in the fields picking the pyrethrum flowers, tea-leaves or coffee beans of our European and African landlords.

2. (organic chemistry) Any of several insecticides obtained from these plants; pyrethrin