castoreum

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin castoreum, from Ancient Greek καστόριον (kastórion).

Noun

castoreum (countable and uncountable, plural castoreums)

  1. The bitter exudate of the castor sacs of mature beavers.
    • 1835 November 28, Jon Pereira, “Lectures on Materia Medica, or Pharmacology, and General Therapeutics: Lecture IX: On Castoreum”, in London Medical Gazette, volume 17, page 299:
      One of the substances tried was castoreum. [] If I were to judge from my own experience, I would say castoreum has very little therapeutic power, for I have not seen much benefit from its employment in those cases to which this remedy is said to be adapted.
    • 1999, L. Sun, D. Müller-Schwarze, “Chemical Signals in the Beaver: One Species, Two Secretions, Many Functions?”, in Robert E. Johnston, Dietland Müller-Schwarze, Peter W. Sorenson, editors, Advances in Chemical Signals in Vertebrates, page 284:
      While the role of castoreum as a means of territorial advertisement has been extensively investigated and supported, the possibility of coding for sex information has not yet been excluded.
    • 2004, Christian V. Stevens, Roland Verhé, Renewable Bioresources: Scope and Modification for Non-Food Applications, page 257:
      Synthetic castoreums are now available, and can be as good as the natural fragrant[sic].
  2. (archaic) A hat made from beaver fur.

Synonyms

Translations

See also

References

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch castorium, from Latin castoreum.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌkɑs.toːˈreː.ʏm/
  • Hyphenation: cas‧to‧re‧um

Noun

castoreum n (uncountable)

  1. castoreum (exudate from castor sacs)
    Synonym: bevergeil

Latin

Etymology

castor + -eum.

Pronunciation

Noun

castoreum n (genitive castoreī); second declension

  1. castoreum, castor sac exudate

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative castoreum castorea
Genitive castoreī castoreōrum
Dative castoreō castoreīs
Accusative castoreum castorea
Ablative castoreō castoreīs
Vocative castoreum castorea

References

  • castoreum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • castoreum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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