agrimony

From Middle English egremoyne, from a conflation of Old English agrimonia and Middle French agremoine (from Old French agremoine, variant of aegremone), both from Late Latin agrimōnia, metathesized from Latin argemōnia (“a kind of poppy”) (probably by association with ager, agri- (“field”)), from Ancient Greek ἀργεμώνη (argemṓnē, “Papaver argemone, prickly poppy”), probably from ἄργεμον (árgemon, “leucoma”), from ἀργός (argós, “white”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæɡ.ɹɪ.mən.i/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæɡ.ɹɪˌmoʊ.ni/

agrimony (plural agrimonies)

1. Any of several perennial herbaceous plants, of the genus Agrimonia, that have spikes of yellow flowers.
   • 1620, Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, The World Tossed at Tennis‎, London:

     I grant, my Pils are bitter, I, and costly; / But their effects are rare, Diuine, and holsome, […] / I grant, theres bitter Egrimony in vm, / And Antimony, I put mony in all still: / And it works preciously […]

   • 1897, H. G. Wells, chapter 9, in The Invisible Man‎, New York: Pocket Books, published 1957, page 41:

     So he put the four shoes in a graceful group on the turf and looked at them. And seeing them there among the grass and springing agrimony, it suddenly occurred to him that both pairs were exceedingly ugly to see.

2. Any of several not closely related plants of a similar appearance.

• hemp-agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)

• bastard agrimony

• myriagon