ipecac

noun

short for ipecacuanha.

1. the dried rhizome of a South American shrub, or a drug prepared from this, used as an emetic and expectorant.
2. the shrub that produces ipecacuanha, native to Brazil and cultivated elsewhere.

early 17th century: from Portuguese, from Tupi-Guarani ipekaaguéne ‘emetic creeper’, from ipe ‘small’ + kaa ‘leaves’ + guéne ‘vomit’.