Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

cantharides

/kænˈθæɹɪdiːz/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: can-tharides
IPA: /kænˈθæɹɪdiːz/

17

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

2

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Spanish fly, Lytta vesicatoria (syn. Cantharis vesicatoria).

Uncountable

noun

Spanish fly; a vesicant extracted from the beetle, popularly held to have aphrodisiac properties.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"I can make the most subtle sauces yield up their secret—whether it be white arsenic, rosalgar, mercury sublimate, or cantharides."
"Madame de Pompadour used tincture of cantharides to regain the love of Louis XV."
"Speaking her name, it was as if he spake pure cantharides. ‘Quick,’ she panted. ‘There is time before they are all about. Again.’"
"It’s lucky that Carol had taken the precaution of obtaining some cantharides; without them the evening might have been a dead loss."
"Basically Louis's drug dealer and pimp, Richelieu, known for opium recipes to fit all occasions, is also credited with the introduction into France of the cantharides, or Spanish fly."

Etymology

Late Middle English, from Latin cantharides, plural of cantharis.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: -, cantharides

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /kænˈθæɹɪdiːz/

Usage

Uncountable

Derived Forms

cantharidism

Questions

How do you pronounce cantharides?: The recorded pronunciation is /kænˈθæɹɪdiːz/.
What does cantharides mean?: Spanish fly, Lytta vesicatoria (syn. Cantharis vesicatoria).
Where does cantharides come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce cantharides

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