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bloodroot

bloodroot

1 9.9
A North American plant that has red root sap, a single white spring flower, and is used in traditional medicine
  • noun
  • /ˈblʌdˌruːt/
  • US
translation icon : sanguinaria
  • In the shadow of the flood, the spring was late, the buds of the trees just opening, the white flowers of twinleaf and bloodroot just beginning to bloom.
  • bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
  • bloodroot blooms
  • white bloodroot

Examples

  • The white flower of bloodroot only blooms in the spring.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • For one, there is the bloodroot extract.

    Blog text (16)
  • But this step is necessary before you apply bloodroot extract.

    Blog text (16)
  • PHOTO (COLOR): Bloodroot blooms for only a short period in the early spring.

    Academic text (2005)
  • I smeared on bloodroot ointment.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The scientific name of bloodroot is Sanguinaria canadensis.

    Blog text (16)
  • "I'll show you a place that's unprepossessing now, but every spring it's covered with bloodroot.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Where even the rhododendrons wilted and died, the bloodroot flowers flourished in the hot summer.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The red exudate from bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), for instance, indicates that it should be applied to ailments of the blood.

    Academic text (2018)
  • In early spring, the bloodroot blooms with beautiful white flowers that attract many pollinators.

Synonyms

redroot
vsbloodroot
  • US
1 9.9

A forest plant with a red root and small white flower used as medicine

has the same meaning but is another common name form
Sanguinaria canadensis
vsbloodroot
  • Specialized
9.9

A woodland plant with a red root, a single lobed leaf, and a white spring flower

is the common English name rather than the Latin form
tetterwort
vsbloodroot
  • Archaic
9.9

A woodland plant with a red root and a single white early-spring flower used in traditional remedies

has identical meaning but differs only as an alternate name

Surface Forms

bloodroot singular
bloodroots plural

Morphology

bloodroot = blood + root (transparent) = blood + root

The compound literally names a plant with a red (blood-coloured) root/sap, so the meaning is directly derivable from its parts.

Etymology

The word bloodroot is made of the words blood and root. The plant's root and sap are red like 'blood', and because people used the root as a medicine, the name tells you about the plant's red root and its use.