ip·e·cac

(ĭp′ĭ-kăk′) also ip·e·cac·u·an·ha (ĭp′ĭ-kăk′yo͞o-ăn′ə)

a. A low-growing tropical American shrub (Psychotria ipecacuanha syn. Cephaelis ipecacuanha) having roots and rhizomes that yield emetine.

b. The dried roots and rhizomes of this shrub.

2. A medicinal preparation made from the dried roots and rhizomes of this shrub that is used to induce vomiting, particularly in cases of poisoning and drug overdose.

[Short for Portuguese ipecacuanha, from Tupí ipekaaguéne : ipeh, low + kaâ, leaves + guéne, vomit.]

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.

ipecacuanha

(ˌɪpɪˌkækjʊˈænə) or

ipecac

1. (Plants) a low-growing South American rubiaceous shrub, Cephaelis ipecacuanha

2. (Pharmacology) a drug prepared from the dried roots of this plant, used as a purgative and emetic

[C18: from Portuguese, from Tupi ipekaaguéne, from ipeh low + kaa leaves + guéne vomit]

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

Translations

ipéca

ipecacuanha

[ˌɪpɪkækjʊˈænə] N → ipecacuana f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

I counted on the "Ipecacuanha" returning as the year wore on; but she never came.

One had a shock of red hair, like the captain of the "Ipecacuanha," and a dirty white cap lay in the bottom of the boat.

View in context

He was forced to concentrate with all his will in order to remember which of them could stand ipecacuanha, and which of them were constitutionally unable to retain that powerful drug.

View in context

A sweet-tasting syrup with sugar, honey and glycerol to soothe irritated throats, plus Ipecacuanha - a natural expectorant to relieve coughs.

Body Talk: TRIED AND TESTED BY KIDS... sore throat remedies

Doctors resorted to medications that purged the poison from the body--mercury laxatives, calomel, and emetics such as ipecacuanha. Bleeding also helped draw the "excitement" from the sick patient.

"This godforsaken town": death and disease at Helena, Arkansas, 1862-63

Micrographic references with a light microscope are reported in previous work on the bark of Cinchonae succirubrae (Koch, 1901; Jackson and Snowdon, 1974) and the root of Cephaelis ipecacuanha and Cephaelis acuminata (Jackson and Snowdon, 1974).

Morphoanatomical studies of Uncaria tomentosa and Uncaria guianensis bark and leaves

If the stool is green and there is accompanying nausea or vomiting, a 30C dose of Ipecacuanha (Brown Ipecac) is the remedy of choice.

Nature's medicine chest. (Homestead health)

In vitro plant regeneration from leaf callus of Cephaelis ipecacuanha A.

In vitro micropropagation of Lawsonia inermis (Lythraceae)

Commonly used expectorants include ammonium chloride, squill and ipecacuanha. In theory, they should be useful, but in practice there's no evidence to suggest that they do what they say.

Dr Mark Porter's Winter Health Guide: Coughs

ipecacuanha, both with unusually high root:shoot ratios, were positioned far from the centroid for understory species.

PLASTIC PHENOTYPIC RESPONSE TO LIGHT OF 16 CONGENERIC SHRUBS FROM A PANAMANIAN RAINFOREST

The phrase at the head of the acknowledgments conveys the general flavor: "That womanly solidarity and grace." Ipecacuanha itself is less nauseating.

Tiresias redux

5 Ipecacuanha is a favourite remedy for colic in babies.

The Top 10 alternative remedies