belladonna

Borrowed from Italian belladonna (altered by folk etymology: bella donna (“beautiful lady”)) from Medieval Latin blādōna (“nightshade”), of Gaulish origin. The folk etymology was motivated by the cosmetic use of nightshade for dilating the eyes.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌbɛləˈdɑnə/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌbɛləˈdɒnə/
• Rhymes: -ɒnə

belladonna (countable and uncountable, plural belladonnas)

1. A plant, Atropa belladonna, having purple bell-shaped flowers and poisonous black glossy berries.
   • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 112:

     Witches always anointed themselves with ointments before departing up the chimney to their Sabbaths. One such ointment was composed of Aconite, Belladonna, Water Parsley, Cinquefoil and Babies' Fat.

2. An alkaloid extracted from this plant, sometimes used medicinally, containing atropine.
   • 2005 June 13, Edmund White, “My Women: Learning how to love them.”, in The New Yorker:

     Cathy teetered downstairs on very high heels, her hair swept up in a disintegrating “brioche”, her eyes glistening with belladonna drops.

Wikispecies

• (Atropa belladonna): deadly nightshade

• belladonna lily
• belladonnized, belladonized
• Belladonna mottle virus

Borrowed from Italian belladonna (bella donna, literally “beautiful lady”), altered by folk etymology from Medieval Latin blādōna (“nightshade”), from Gaulish *blātōnā, blātunā, from Proto-Celtic *blātus (“flower”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰléh₃tus, from *bʰleh₃- (“blossom, flower”).

• IPA^(key): /ˌbɛ.laːˈdɔ.naː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bel‧la‧don‧na

belladonna f or m (plural belladonna's, diminutive belladonnaatje n)

1. belladonna, deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna)

• wolfskers

Borrowed from Italian belladonna (bella donna, literally “beautiful lady”), altered by folk etymology from Medieval Latin blādōna (“nightshade”), from Gaulish *blātōnā, blātunā, from Proto-Celtic *blātus (“flower”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰléh₃tus, from *bʰleh₃- (“blossom, flower”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈbelːɑdonːɑ/, [ˈbe̞lːɑˌdo̞nːɑ]
• Rhymes: -onːɑ
• Syllabification^(key): bel‧la‧don‧na

belladonna

1. belladonna, deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna)

• myrkkykoiso
• lemmonmarja

Interpreted by folk etymology as bella (“beautiful”) +‎ donna (“lady”), from Medieval Latin blādōna (“nightshade”), from Gaulish *blātōnā, blātunā, from Proto-Celtic *blātus (“flower”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰléh₃tus, from *bʰleh₃- (“blossom, flower”).

• IPA^(key): /ˌbɛl.laˈdɔn.na/[1]
• Rhymes: -ɔnna
• Hyphenation: bel‧la‧dòn‧na

belladonna f (plural belledonne)

1. deadly nightshade, belladonna (Atropa belladonna)

Borrowed from Italian belladonna (bella donna, literally “beautiful lady”), altered by folk etymology from Medieval Latin blādōna (“nightshade”), from Gaulish *blātōnā, blātunā, from Proto-Celtic *blātus (“flower”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰléh₃tus, from *bʰleh₃- (“blossom, flower”).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /bel.laˈdon.na/, [bɛlːʲäˈd̪ɔnːä]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /bel.laˈdon.na/, [belːäˈd̪ɔnːä]

belladonna f (genitive belladonnae); first declension

1. (New Latin) belladonna (Atropa belladonna)

First-declension noun.

• solānum