digitalis

(dĭjˌĭ-tălˈĭs)

noun

1. A plant of the genus Digitalis, which includes the foxgloves.
2. A drug prepared from the seeds and dried leaves of this plant, used in medicine as a cardiac stimulant.

Word History: The name of the plant genus Digitalis, whose member the foxglove provides an important drug used to treat heart disease, is associated with another part of the body, the finger. In Digitalis, which comes from the Latin word digitālis, meaning “relating to a finger,” we recognize digit, which derives from Latin digitus, “finger, toe.” In Modern Latin the genus name was chosen because the German name for the foxglove is Fingerhut, “thimble,” or literally “finger hat.” The second part of our word foxglove also refers to the similarity of the foxglove blossoms to the fingers of a glove. Digitalis is first recorded in English in a work published in 1664.