bezoar

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be·zoar

(bē′zôr′)

A hard indigestible mass of material, such as hair, plant fibers, or seeds, found in the stomach or intestine of animals, especially ruminants and sometimes humans. Bezoars were formerly considered to be antidotes to poisons and to possess magic properties.

[Middle English bezear, stone used as antidote to poison, probably from Old French bezahar, gastric or intestinal mass used as antidote to poison, from Arabic bāzahr, from Persian pādzahr : pād-, protector (from Avestan pātar-; see pā- in Indo-European roots) + zahr, poison (from Middle Persian; see g^when- in Indo-European roots).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

bezoar

(ˈbiːzɔː)

(Medicine) a hard mass, such as a stone or hairball, in the stomach and intestines of animals, esp ruminants, and man: formerly thought to be an antidote to poisons

[C15: from Old French bézoard, from Arabic bāzahr, from Persian bādzahr, from bād against + zahr poison]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

be•zoar

(ˈbi zɔr, -zoʊr)

n.

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

[1470–80; bezear < Medieval Latin bezahar < Arabic bā(di) zahr < Persian pād-zahr counterpoison]

Translations

безоар

be·zoar

n. bezoar, concreción formada de distintas materias tal como fibras vegetales y pelo, presente en el estómago tanto en el intestino humano como el de los animales.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

bezoar

n bezoar m

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References in periodicals archive ?

BEZOAR STONES IN CONTEXT: FIRST STUDY OF THEIR RELEVANCE IN PREHISPANIC COMMUNITIES OF NORTHWESTERN ARGENTINA

PIEDRAS BEZOARES EN CONTEXTO: PRIMER ESTUDIO DE SU RELEVANCIA EN COMUNIDADES PREHISPANICAS DEL NOROESTE DE ARGENTINA

(3) Penan hunters are efficient users of the blowpipe, with which they kill langurs and other monkeys in search of bezoar stones, among the high value objects of trade with outsiders.

UNESCO in Southeast Asia: World Heritage Sites in Comparative Perspective

Mentions of the bezoars take up from a few lines to entire chapters in Early Modern texts and I developed the conviction that, in the past, bezoar stones must have played a part in many people's lives.

The bezoar stone: a natural wonder in the new world

Peter Borschberg's "The Euro-Asian Trade in Bezoar Stones (approx.

Michael North, ed., Artistic and Cultural Exchanges Between Europe and Asia, 1400-1900

Asians obtained knowledge concerning European technology while Europeans imported Asian goods, as proved in the case of Bezoar stones that were collected from different Asian animals.

Michael North. Artistic and Cultural Exchanges Between Europe and Asia 1400-1900

Belemnites, teeth of mammoths, bezoar stones, the "Precious Jewel" which the toad bears in its head, gems engraved with mystical devices the Tartars with their sheep and camels all turned to stone, as well as many implements, weapons, domestic vessels, and idols of barbaric peoples (some of them of Neolithic age) but to him equally mysterious in origin are also depicted.

Medieval mineralogy

They did not know about gaharu, incense wood (Aquilaria spp.), nor about bezoar stones, the gall stones of monkeys (mostly of the grey langur, Presbytis hosei).

The last Basap cave dwellers in the Mangkalikat karst mountains, East Kalimantan--a brief report. (Brief Communications)

His geological materials included fossils, rocks, bezoar stones, clays, many specimens of quartz, salts, marble, gem species, volcanic products, sulfur, bitumens, and metallic ores of arsenic, mercury, gold, silver, lead, tin, bismuth and iron.

Ferrante Imperato (1550-1625)

Included were popular curiosities such as iron objects transformed into copper by cupriferous mine waters, bezoar stones, carved ornamental objects, and a collection of polished slabs.

Maria Anna (1738-1789)

Although several plates in volume one depict Seba's collection of dozens of bezoar stones (concretions or nodules thought to be of animal origin and to have curative powers), it is not until the end of volume four that his minerals are shown.