valerian

Meaning

1. (countable, uncountable) A hardy perennial flowering plant, Valeriana officinalis, with heads of sweetly scented pink or white flowers.
2. (countable, uncountable) More generally, any plant of the genus Valeriana.
3. (uncountable) The root of Valeriana officinalis, used in herbal medicine.
4. (countable, uncountable) An extract of the dried roots of the Valeriana officinalis used in herbal medicine as a sedative.

Synonyms

nard

spikenard

tincture of valerian

valerian drops

Translations

Baldrian

valeriana

valeriaan

valériane

valeriana

valeriana

βαλεριάνα

Valeriana officinalis

kedi otu

valeriana

Katzenkraut

valeriana

baccar

Pronounced as (IPA)

/vəˈlɪəɹɪən/

Etymology

Cognate with German: Baldrian

Cognate with Hungarian: bojtorján

Cognate with Middle Mongolian: ᠪᠠᠯᠴᠢᠷᠭᠠᠨ᠎ᠠ

Cognate with Mongolian: балчиргана

Cognate with Ottoman Turkish: بالدران

In summary

From Old French valeriane or Medieval Latin valeriāna, a reinterpretation of what is found as German Baldrian after valēre (“to be powerful”) or also the gentilic name Valerius, which is seemingly borrowed in the Dark Age period from the late 6ᵗʰ to early 8ᵗʰ century from Turkic or Proto-Mongolic, when the Pannonian Avars were direct neighbours to the Germans, notably also present in Hungarian bojtorján (“burdock”), ultimately from Proto-Mongolic, reflected as
Middle Mongol ᠪᠠᠯᠴᠢᠷᠭᠠᠨ᠎ᠠ (balčirɣan-a, “false hellebore; angelica”), composed as ᠪᠠᠯᠴᠢᠷ (balčir, “infant; young, tender, fresh, rank”) + plant name suffix ᠭᠠᠨᠠ (-ɣana),
Mongolian балчиргана (balčirgana, “false hellebore; angelica”), composed as балчир (balčir, “infant; young, tender, fresh, rank”) + plant name suffix -гана (-gana).
See Ottoman Turkish بالدران (baldıran, “hemlock”) for Turkic cognates.