Definition of Sarsaparilla

1. Noun. Any of various prickly climbing plants of the tropical American genus Smilax having aromatic roots and heart-shaped leaves.

Group relationships: Genus Smilax, Smilax
Terms within: Sarsaparilla Root
Specialized synonyms: Rough Bindweed, Smilax Aspera
Generic synonyms: Vine

2. Noun. Carbonated drink flavored with an extract from sarsaparilla root or with birch oil and sassafras.
Generic synonyms: Soft Drink
Terms within: Sarsaparilla Root

Definition of Sarsaparilla

1. n. Any plant of several tropical American species of Smilax.

Definition of Sarsaparilla

1. Noun. Any of various tropical American vines, of the genus ''Smilax'', having fragrant roots ¹

2. Noun. The dried roots of these plants, or a flavoring material extracted from these roots ¹

3. Noun. A soft drink flavored with this extract ¹

4. Noun. Any of several North American plants, of the genus ''Aralia'', having umbels and small white flowers ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Sarsaparilla

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Sarsaparilla

1. Any plant of several tropical American species of Smilax. The bitter mucilaginous roots of such plants, used in medicine and in sirups for soda, etc. The name is also applied to many other plants and their roots, especially to the Aralia nudicaulis, the wild sarsaparilla of the United States. Origin: Sp. Zarzaparrilla; zarza a bramble (perhaps fr. Bisc. Zartzia) + parra a vine, or Parillo, a physician said to have discovered it. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Sarsaparilla

saros
saroses
sarpanch
sarpe
sarplar
sarplars
sarpo
sarracenia
sarracenias
sarrasin
sarrasins
sarrazin
sarrazins
sarrusophone
sarrusophones
sarsaparilla (current term)
sarsaparilla root
sarsaparillas
sarsaparillin
sarsar
sarsars
sarsasapogenin
sarsden
sarsdens
sarse
sarsed
sarsen
sarsenet
sarsenets
sarsens

Literary usage of Sarsaparilla

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences by Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (U.S.) (1837)
"The utility of the decoction of sarsaparilla and nitric acid, has been long recognised in cachectic states of the system, and affections of the skin, ..."

2. The American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge edited by George Ripley, Charles Anderson Dana (1883)
"sarsaparilla is collected in western Mexico, Central America, ... sarsaparilla was introduced into Spain as early as 1545, and has since been at times a ..."

3. Pharmaceutical Journal by Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (1853)
"Specimen of sarsaparilla, recently imported from Jamaica, from Mr. George ... GENTLEMEN,—Having found samples of sarsaparilla of the kind sent herewith new ..."

4. Nostrums and Quackery: Articles on the Nostrum Evil and Quackery Reprinted by American Medical Association, Arthur Joseph Cramp (1912)
"sarsaparilla Spring seems to be the time of year when the various sarsaparilla nostrums are brought to the front with the plea that they will rehabilitate ..."

5. Nostrums and Quackery: Articles on the Nostrum Evil and Quackery, Reprinted by American Medical Association (1912)
"sarsaparilla Spring aeema to be the time of year when the various sarsaparilla nostrums are brought to the front with the plea that they will rehabilitate ..."

6. A Manual of Materia Medica and Pharmacology: Comprising All Organic and by David Marvel Reynolds Culbreth (1906)
"Brazilian, Para, Kio Negro sarsaparilla. 4. Honduras sarsaparilla. ... Dose, nss-2 (2-8 Gni.). Commercial.—sarsaparilla was carried to Europe from Peru, ..."

7. Journal of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy by Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (1832)
"It has long been the practice with many physicians to give their preference to certain kinds of sarsaparilla, and for others, on the contrary, ..."

8. Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Standard Work of Reference in Art, Literature (1907)
"sarsaparilla, a popular alterative remedy, prepared from the long fibrous ... The introduction of sarsaparilla into European medicine dates from the middle ..."

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