белладонна

Borrowed from Italian belladonna (bella donna, literally “beautiful lady”), altered by folk etymology from Medieval Latin bladona (“nightshade”), from Gaulish *blātōnā, blātunā, from Proto-Celtic *blātus (“flower”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰléh₃tus, from *bʰleh₃- (“blossom, flower”). The folk etymology was motivated by the cosmetic use of nightshade for dilating the eyes.

• IPA^(key): [bʲɪɫɐˈdonːə]

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белладо́нна • (belladónna) f inan (genitive белладо́нны, nominative plural белладо́нны, genitive plural белладо́нн)

1. (botany) belladonna, deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna)

   Synonyms: красавка обыкнове́нная (krasavka obyknovénnaja), красуха (krasuxa), со́нная о́дурь (sónnaja ódurʹ), бе́шеная я́года (béšenaja jágoda), ви́шня бе́шеная (víšnja béšenaja)

2. (pharmacy) belladonna (an alkaloid))