behen

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See also: běhen

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

A Medieval Latin transcription of the Arabic بَهْمَن (bahman).

Noun[edit]

behen (uncountable)

  1. (obsolete) Any of various plants imported into Europe for the pharmaceutical trade in dried form, so of uncertain identity.
    1. Behen rubrum or red behen: said in some sources to be Salvia haematodes (now Salvia pratensis subsp. haematodes), but in other sources to be Statice limonium, which is a synonym for Limonium vulgare.
      • 1735, John K'Eogh, Botanalogia Universalis Hibernica:
        The roots and seed of red Behen are Styptic, or Restringent []
    2. Behen album or white behen: a thistle native to western and central Asia, Centaurea behen
      • 1862, American Journal of Pharmacy, volume 34, page 549:
        White Behen is referred by all writers on materia medica to Centaurea Behen L., a plant of Persia and traditionally also of the Lebanon.
    3. Behen officinarum: Cucubalis behen or Oberna behen, synonyms for Silene vulgaris

Anagrams[edit]