gentian

See also: Gentian

English

Etymology

Via Middle English from Latin gentiāna, which, according to Pliny the Elder, was named after Gentius (Ancient Greek Γένθιος (Génthios)), the last king of Illyria, who supposedly discovered the plant's medicinal benefits. This has been dismissed as folk etymology but the word may still ultimately be of Illyrian origin, as -an is a common suffix in Illyrian words.

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛnt͡ʃən/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛnt͡ʃn̩/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Rhymes: -ɛnʃən

Noun

gentian (countable and uncountable, plural gentians)

(countable) Any of various herbs of the family Gentianaceae found in temperate and mountainous regions with violet or blue flowers.
- 1956, Delano Ames, Crime out of Mind‎^[1], chapter 1:
  On the cover of the leaflet advertising the Alpenrose Gasthof in Zirl am Gurgl […] there is a decorative picture of a young woman. […] She has bright flaxen hair and laughing eyes of the same hue as the gentians in the meadow beyond the inn.
- 2008, Christopher Paolini, “Assault on Helgrind”, in Brisingr, page 39:
  Searching again, he noticed something that had eluded him before: a single flower, a gentian, blooming not fifty feet in front of them, where, by all rights, there ought to be solid rock. How does it get enough light to live?
(uncountable) Dried roots and rhizome of European gentian (Gentiana lutea), used as a tonic.

Synonyms

fieldwort

Derived terms

Translations

Any of various herbs of the family Gentianaceae

Albanian: sanëz (sq) f, agnushe (sq) f
Arabic: جَنْطِيَانَا f (janṭiyānā), كُوشَاد m (kūšād)
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܓܶܢܛܝܢܳܐ m (genṭyānā)
Asturian: xaranzana f, xanzana f
Bulgarian: тинтя́ва f (tintjáva), тентя́ва f (tentjáva)
Catalan: genciana f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 龍膽科 / 龙胆科 (lóngdǎn kē)
Czech: hořec (cs) m
Dutch: gentiaan (nl) f
Esperanto: genciano
Finnish: katkero (fi)
French: gentiane (fr) f
German: Enzian (de) m
Greek: γεντιακή f (gentiakí)
Ancient Greek: γεντιανή f (gentianḗ)
Ido: genciano (io)
Irish: ceadharlach m, lus an chrúbáin m
Italian: genziana (it) f
Kazakh: please add this translation if you can
Latin: gentiāna f
Macedonian: сириштарка f (sirištarka)
Mòcheno: sklopper
Old English: feldwyrt f
Persian: کوشاد (fa) (kušâd), جنطیانا (jantiyânâ)
Polish: gencjana f, goryczka (pl) f
Portuguese: genciana (pt) f
Quechua: phallcha
Romanian: gențiană (ro) f
Russian: гореча́вка (ru) f (gorečávka)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: сирѝштара f, генција́на f, срча̀нӣк m, лѝнцура m

Latin: sirìštara (sh) f, gencijána (sh) f, srčànīk (sh) m, lìncura (sh) m
Spanish: genciana f
Tibetan: ཀྱི་ལྕེ་ནག་པོ (kyi lce nag po), སྤང་རྒྱན (spang rgyan)
Turkish: centiyana, yılan otu
Ottoman Turkish: جنتیانه (centiyane), ییلان اوتی (yılan otu)
Turkmen: please add this translation if you can
Welsh: crwynllys m

The dried roots and rhizome of a European gentian

Arabic: جَنْطِيَانَا f (janṭiyānā), كُوشَاد m (kūšād)
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܓܶܢܛܝܢܳܐ m (genṭyānā)
Assamese: please add this translation if you can
Asturian: xaranzana f, xanzana f
Azerbaijani: please add this translation if you can
Bengali: please add this translation if you can
Bulgarian: тинтя́ва f (tintjáva), тентя́ва f (tentjáva)
Catalan: genciana f
Esperanto: genciano
Finnish: keltakatkeron juuri
French: gentiane (fr) f
German: Enzian (de) m
Greek: γεντιακή f (gentiakí)
Ancient Greek: γεντιανή f (gentianḗ)
Gujarati: please add this translation if you can
Hindi: please add this translation if you can
Italian: genziana (it) f
Kazakh: please add this translation if you can
Latin: gentiāna f
Persian: کوشاد (fa) (kušâd), جنطیانا (jantiyânâ)
Polish: gencjana f, goryczka (pl) f
Portuguese: genciana (pt) f
Romanian: gențiană (ro) f
Russian: гореча́вка (ru) f (gorečávka)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: сирѝштара f, генција́на f, лѝнцура m

Latin: sirìštara (sh) f, gencijána (sh) f, lìncura (sh) m
Spanish: genciana f
Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: centiyana, yılan otu
Ottoman Turkish: جنطیانا (centiyana), ییلان اوتی (yılan otu)