hemlock
n.n. a poisonous plant with dark green leaves and small white flowers. People use the name to describe a type of tree or a very strong poison.
n. a poisonous plant of the genus Tsuga, or a poison derived from the sap of the coniferous tree Taxus. Often used metaphorically to describe something extremely dangerous or harmful.
The gardener warned us not to touch the hemlock.
The ancient Greeks used hemlock to execute prisoners, though the plant is also a common ornamental tree in many parks.
The poet used the image of hemlock to evoke a sense of inevitable death, drawing on the plant's historical association with the execution of Socrates.
From Middle English hemlok, hemeluc, from Old English hemlīc, hymlīc m and hymlīce f (“hemlock, bryony, convolvulus”), of uncertain origin. speculative etymology Compare Old English hymele (“hop-vine, hops”), Old English humele (“bryony, widerton, hair moss, gold-hair, morning glory”), Danish and Swedish humle (“hops”), Icelandic humall (“hops”). Perhaps from Scythian, from Proto-Iranian háwHmah (“ephedra; juice”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian sáwHmas from Proto-Indo-European *sewh₁- (“to press out, extract”). ;cognates (from Sarmato-Scythian haumala) Ossetian хумӕллӕг (xumællæg, “hops”) (from Sarmato-Scythian hauma) Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬊𐬨𐬀 (haoma), Baluchi [script needed] (hum), Persian هوم (hôm)) (from Proto-Indo-Iranian sauma) Sanskrit सोम (soma)) More at suck.