ordeal bean

9.9

A dark brown seed from a West African vine that is very poisonous and used in medicine and guilt trials

noun
/ɔrˈdil bin/

: frijol de Calabar

The ordeal bean is notorious for being deadly, yet has important medicinal applications.

Examples

The poison from the ordeal bean was once used to determine guilt in tribal trials.
Researchers extracted physostigmine from the ordeal bean to study its effects on the nervous system.
The ordeal bean is known for its toxicity.
Some cultures used the ordeal bean in trials.
The ordeal bean is a highly poisonous seed traditionally used in West African trials to determine guilt.
Doctors use extracts from the ordeal bean to develop treatments for certain neurological disorders.
In historical rituals, the poison of the ordeal bean was administered to accused individuals during tests of innocence.

Synonyms

calabar bean

vsordeal bean

9.9

A dark brown seed from a West African plant that is poisonous and used in traditional medicine and rituals

is used specifically in West African ritual ordeals rather than general medical uses

How Edible

edible bean

1.0

inedible

11 4.5

ordeal bean

9.9

Surface Forms

ordeal bean singular

ordeal beans plural

Morphology

ordeal + bean

The compound is compositionally transparent: a B1 learner who knows 'ordeal' (a ritual test or trial) and 'bean' (a seed) will readily infer that an 'ordeal bean' is a bean associated with or used in ordeals (i.e., a bean employed in ritual tests). While the precise botanical identity and toxic properties (Calabar bean, physostigmine) are not deducible from the words alone, the basic referent—a bean used in ordeals—is directly inferable.

Etymology

Ordeal bean comes from old West African trials where people were forced to eat a poisonous bean as a test. If someone lived or died, that result was the ordeal that showed 'guilt' or 'innocence', so the name now means that very poisonous seed used in those trials.