hemlock

Meaning

1. (countable, uncountable) Any of the poisonous umbelliferous plants, of the genera
2. (countable, uncountable) Any of the poisonous umbelliferous plants, of the genera
3. (countable, uncountable) Poison obtained from these Conium and Cicuta plants.
4. (countable, uncountable) Any of several coniferous trees, of the genus Tsuga, that grow in North America; the wood of such trees.

Synonyms

poison hemlock

California fern

Nebraska fern

poison parsley

winter fern

Tsuga

hemlock tree

Conium maculatum

bigcone spruce

evergreen

hemlock spruce

noxious gas

bigcone douglas-fir

bigcone douglass fir

cedar

Translations

cicuta

ciguë

cicuta

🌱

scheerling

cicuta

cicuta

dolle kervel

κώνειο

cicuta

Gefleckter Schierling

Conium

Schierling

Tsuga

Hemlocktanne

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈhɛmˌlɒk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: hemlok

Inherited from Old English: hemlīc

Cognate with Danish: -

Cognate with Swedish: humle

Cognate with Icelandic: humall

Cognate with Ossetic: хумӕллӕг

Cognate with Avestan: 𐬵𐬀𐬊𐬨𐬀

Cognate with Persian: هوم

Cognate with Sanskrit: सोम

In summary

From Middle English hemlok, hemeluc, from Old English hemlīc, hymlīc m and hymlīce f (“hemlock, bryony, convolvulus”), of uncertain origin.
speculative etymology
Compare Old English hymele (“hop-vine, hops”), Old English humele (“bryony, widerton, hair moss, gold-hair, morning glory”), Danish and Swedish humle (“hops”), Icelandic humall (“hops”). Perhaps from Scythian, from Proto-Iranian *háwHmah (“ephedra; juice”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sáwHmas from Proto-Indo-European *sewh₁- (“to press out, extract”).
;cognates
* (from Sarmato-Scythian *haumala) Ossetian хумӕллӕг (xumællæg, “hops”)
* (from Sarmato-Scythian *hauma) Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬊𐬨𐬀 (haoma), Baluchi [script needed] (hum), Persian هوم (hôm))
* (from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma) Sanskrit सोम (soma))
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