Bezoar
/ˈbi.zɔɹ/ noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A mass, usually of hair or undigested vegetable matter, found in a human or animal's intestines, similar to a hairball.
- 2 An enterolith.
Synonyms
All synonymsEtymology
Borrowed from Spanish bezoar and/or French bézoard, based on Arabic بَازَهْر (bāzahr), from Middle Persian pʾtzhl (pādzahr, “bezoar, antidote”), from a compound of words meaning “to protect” and “poison” (literally “killing thing”), thus a bezoar was “that which protects against poison”. In ancient times, bezoars from animals were ground up and ingested as remedies for various maladies and as antidotes to poisons.