Word.ws English Dictionary

pellitory

UK/ˈpɛlɪt(ə)ɹi/US/ˈpɛlɪtɔɹi/

pellitory noun: pellitory of the wall (Parietaria officinalis).

Noun (1)

pellitory (countable and uncountable, plural pellitories)

  1. Pellitory of the wall (Parietaria officinalis).
    • The dried herb Pellitory made up into an electuary with honey, or the juice of the herb, or the decoction thereof made up with sugar or honey, is a singular remedy for any old or dry cough, the shortness of breath, and wheezing in the throat.1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society, published 2007, page 215
  2. Any plant of the genus Parietaria.
    • There are some who advise taking the noxious herb savory; in my judgment it is poison. Or they mix pepper with the seed of prickly nettle and yellow pellitory pounded in old wine.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 208
    1. Parietaria debilis.
    2. Parietaria hespera.
    3. Parietaria judaica (spreading pellitory).
  3. Achillea ptarmica (European pellitory, bastard pellitory, wild pellitory, sneezewort.
  4. Tanacetum cinerariifolium (formerly Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium) (feverfew, Dalmatian pellitory).

Noun (2)

pellitory (countable and uncountable, plural pellitories)

  1. Pellitory of Spain (Anacyclus pyrethrum), a plant containing an oil once used for toothaches and facial neuralgia.
    • Common Pellitory is a very common plant, and will not be kept in our gardens without diligent looking to.1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society, published 2007, page 213

Forms of pellitory

pluralpellitories
alternative form (obsolete)paritory

Origin of pellitory

Probably a variant form of parietary with dissimilation of the first /r/ to /l/.

Probably an alteration of pelleter, with change of ending after Etymology 1, above.

Words formed from pellitory

Phrases with pellitory

Questions about pellitory

What does pellitory mean?
Pellitory means pellitory of the wall (Parietaria officinalis).
What part of speech is pellitory?
Pellitory is a noun.
How do you pronounce pellitory?
Pellitory is pronounced /ˈpɛlɪt(ə)ɹi/ (UK).
What is the plural of pellitory?
The plural of pellitory is pellitories.

Words near pellitory in the dictionary

  1. Pellissier
  2. pellistor
  3. pellistors
  4. pellitories
  5. pellitorine
  6. pellitory
  7. pellitory of Spain
  8. pellitory of the wall
  9. pellitory-of-the-wall
  10. Pellman
  11. Pellmans

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pellitory (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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