English

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Etymology

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From Spanish contrayerba (literally, a counter-herb, hence an antidote for poison), from Latin contra + herba (herb).

Noun

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contrayerva (usually uncountable, plural contrayervas)

  1. Dorstenia contrajerva, a South American plant whose aromatic root is sometimes used in medicine as a gentle stimulant and tonic.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for contrayerva”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)