turbith

English

Alternative forms

• turpeth

Etymology

From Old French turbit or its source, Medieval Latin turbithum, from Arabic تُرْبِد (turbid).

Noun

turbith (uncountable)

1. A type of purgative drug made from the root of a type of morning glory plant (Operculina turpethum); or the plant itself.
   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
     , II.4.1.ii:

     […] turbith, agarick, mirabolanes, hermodactils from the East Indies, tobacco from the West […]

French

Noun

turbith m (plural turbiths)

1. turbith

Further reading

• “turbith”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.