Bonadonna

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Poisonous plant known for its bell-shaped flowers and toxic alkaloids capable of causing hallucinations and severe poisoning if ingested
2. A deadly herb featuring trumpet-like blossoms and containing potent tropane alkaloids used historically in medicine and as a poison
3. Toxic flowering shrub with distinctive large blooms, infamous for its poisonous properties that affect the nervous system when consumed

Etymology: Bonadonna is an Italian name meaning "good lady," and in English it names deadly nightshade, the plant Atropa belladonna. The plant's name comes from the Italian "bella donna," "beautiful lady," which refers to a cosmetic use: Renaissance women in Italy and elsewhere put drops of its juice in their eyes to dilate the pupils, a fashionable look because wide pupils were thought alluring. The English form "belladonna" is the usual spelling in this sense, and the plant is also famous for the atropine it contains, named after the Fate Atropos. The variant "bonadonna" is a rarer, altered form. It likely arose as a folk-style reshaping or regional variant of "belladonna," with "buona donna," meaning "good woman," substituting for "bella donna." Dictionaries record it as a less common alternative, not as a separate plant, so the same hazardous species is meant by both spellings.

Synonyms: belladonna, deadly nightshade