Word.ws English Dictionary

assafetida

assafetida is the dated form of asafoetida.

Meaning of asafoetida

Noun

asafoetida (usually uncountable, plural asafoetidas)

  1. (usually) A resinous gum from the stem and roots of Ferula species such as Ferula foetida and Ferula assa-foetida, having a strong, unpleasant smell, with culinary and medical uses.
    • Nigh Whormoot are Duzgun, Laztan-De, and other Townes, where is got the best Assa-Fætida through all the Orient: the tree is like our brier in height, the leaves resemble Fig leaves, the root the Radish: the vertue had need be much, it stincks so odiously.1638, Thomas Herbert, Some Yeares Travels, section II

Questions about assafetida

What is assafetida the dated form of?
Assafetida is the dated form of asafoetida.

Words near assafetida in the dictionary

  1. Assadian
  2. Assadism
  3. Assadist
  4. Assadists
  5. Assaf
  6. assafetida
  7. assafoetida
  8. Assafs
  9. assagai
  10. assagaie
  11. assagaied

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: assafetida (page history and authors); asafoetida (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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