ergot
English

Barley grain with ergots (sclerotia of Claviceps purpurea)
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈəːɡət/, IPA(key): /ˈəːɡɒt/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈərɡət/, IPA(key): /ˈərˌɡɑt/
Noun
ergot (countable and uncountable, plural ergots)
- Any fungus in the genus Claviceps which are parasitic on grasses.
- The sclerotium (wintering stage) of certain fungi in the genus Claviceps, appearing as a deformed grain in certain cereals and grasses infected by the fungi.
- 1980, Albert Hofmann, chapter 1, in Jonathan Ott, transl., LSD, My Problem Child, McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, archived from the original on 22 May 2016:
- Ergot first appeared on the stage of history in the early Middle Ages, as the cause of outbreaks of mass poisonings affecting thousands of persons at a time. The illness, whose connection with ergot was for a long time obscure, appeared in two characteristic forms, one gangrenous (ergotismus gangraenosus) and the other convulsive (ergotismus convulsivus).
Derived terms
Translations
any fungus of the genus Claviceps
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See also
References
- “ergot”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
French
Etymology
Inherited from Old French argot, considered from a substrate root *arg- related to thorns and pointy things widespread in Western Romance, for related forms see Galician argana (“awn”), Spanish aulaga (“gorse”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛʁ.ɡo/, (older, now chiefly Belgium) /ɛʁ.ɡɔ/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -o, -ɔ
Further reading
- “ergot”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Romanian
Declension
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