The dried root of Aconitum napellus (family Ranunculaceae), monkshood or wolfsbane; a powerful and rapid-acting poison formerly used as an antipyretic, diuretic, diaphoretic, anodyne, cardiac and respiratory depressant, and externally as an analgesic.
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ac·o·nite 'ak-ə-.nīt n
1) MONKSHOOD
2) the dried tuberous root of a monkshood (Aconitum napellus) formerly used as a cardiac and respiratory sedative
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n.
the dried roots of the herbaceous plant Aconitum napellus (monkshood or wolfbane), containing three analgesic substances: aconine, aconitine, and picraconitine. Aconite was formerly used to prepare liniments for muscular pains and a tincture for toothache, but is regarded as too toxic for use today.
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ac·o·nite (akґə-nīt) [L aconitum; Gr. akoniton] a poisonous substance from the dried tuberous root of Aconitum napellus, which contains aconitine and other related alkaloids; it causes potentially fatal ventricular fibrillation and respiratory paralysis. It was formerly given internally as a febrifuge and gastric anesthetic and is used in Chinese herbal medicine and homeopathy as an analgesic, antiinflammatory, and cardiac tonic. Called also monkshood and wolfsbane.Medical dictionary. 2011.