Digitalis

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /dɪdʒɪˈtɑːlɪs/
• US IPA: /dɪdʒɪˈteɪlɪs/

Origin

Modern Latin, from Latin digitālis ("") (named with reference to the German common name for the plant, Fingerhut ("thimble")).

Full definition of digitalis

Noun

1. A genus of herbaceous plants of the Plantaginaceae family, including the foxglove, Digitalis purpurea.
2. A medical extract of Digitalis purpurea prescribed for heart failure etc.
• 1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin 2010, p. 188:‘You very nearly died. I had to give you digitalis three times.’
• 2001, Leslie Iversen, Drugs: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford 2001, p. 25:The ancient remedy digitalis, extracted from the foxglove plant, for example, acts by blocking sodium channels in heart muscle, preventing potentially dangerous overactivity.