scabious

English

Etymology 1

From Medieval Latin scabiōsus (“scabious”), from Latin scabiēs (see scabies); partly reinterpretable as scab +‎ -ious.

Adjective

scabious (comparative more scabious, superlative most scabious)

1. Having scabs.
2. Of or pertaining to scabies.

Related terms

• scabrous

Etymology 2

Pincushion flower, Scabiosa triandra

Field scabious, Knautia arvensis

From Medieval Latin scabiōsa, substantivized from scabiōsus (“scabious”), see Etymology 1; the name comes from their medical use in the Middle Ages to cure scabies and leprosy.

Noun

scabious (plural scabiouses)

1. Any of various herbaceous plants of the genus Scabiosa.
   • 1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part I, XII [Uniform ed., p. 128]:

     The grassy track, so gay with scabious and bedstraw, was snow-white at the bottom of its ruts.

2. Any of several plants of the genus Knautia.

Synonyms

• scabiosa

Derived terms

• blue scabious, devil's bit scabious (Succisa pratensis)
• field scabious (Knautia arvensis)
• sheep's bit scabious (Jasione montana)
• sweet scabious (Erigeron spp.; Sixalix atropurpurea, syn. Scabiosa atropurpurea)

Translations

Translations

• French: scabieuse (fr)
• German: Skabiose
• Italian: scabiosa
• Occitan: escabiosa
• Turkish: uyuz otu (tr), kum otu (tr)

Translations to be checked

• Welsh: bara'r cythraul (cy)