mandrakeyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[mandrake 词源字典]
mandrake: [14] The mandrake is a Mediterranean plant of the potato family with medicinal uses. Its name is an alteration of mandragora, which goes back via Latin to Greek mandragóras, a word probably of non- Indo-European origin. The change arose owing to an association with man (the mandrake has a large forked root which supposedly resembles a human being) and drake ‘dragon’ (an allusion to the root’s supposedly magical properties).
[mandrake etymology, mandrake origin, 英语词源]
mandrake (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
narcotic plant, early 14c., mondrake, from Medieval Latin mandragora, from Latin mandragoras, from Greek mandragoras, probably from a non-Indo-European word. The word was in late Old English in its Latin form; folk etymology associated the second element with dragoun and substituted native drake in its place. The forked root is thought to resemble a human body and is said to shriek when pulled from the ground.