equisetum

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eq·ui·se·tum

(ĕk′wə-sē′təm)

n. pl. eq·ui·se·tums or eq·ui·se·ta (-tə)

[Latin equisaetum, horsetail : equus, horse; see ekwo- in Indo-European roots + saeta, bristle, stiff hair.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

equisetum

(ˌɛkwɪˈsiːtəm)

n, pl -tums or -ta (-tə)

(Plants) any tracheophyte plant of the genus Equisetum, which comprises the horsetails

[C19: New Latin, changed from Latin equisaetum, from equus horse + saeta bristle]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

horse•tail

(ˈhɔrsˌteɪl)

n.

a nonflowering plant of the genus Equisetum, family Equisetaceae, with hollow jointed stems bearing scaly leaves and a spikelike cone bearing spores.

[1350–1400]

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Noun

Equisetum - horsetails; coextensive with the family Equisetaceae

genus Equisetum

fern genus - genera of ferns and fern allies

Equisetaceae, family Equisetaceae, horsetail family - sole surviving family of the Equisetales: fern allies

horsetail - perennial rushlike flowerless herbs with jointed hollow stems and narrow toothlike leaves that spread by creeping rhizomes; tend to become weedy; common in northern hemisphere; some in Africa and South America

References in classic literature ?

a body ought to discriminate -- they come together with great random, and a spear is brast, and one party brake his shield and the other one goes down, horse and man, over his horse-tail and brake his neck, and then the next candidate comes randoming in, and brast HIS spear, and the other man brast his shield, and down HE goes, horse and man, over his horse-tail, and brake HIS neck, and then there's another elected, and another and another and still another, till the material is all used up; and when you come to figure up results, you can't tell one fight from another, nor who whip- ped; and as a PICTURE, of living, raging, roaring battle, sho!

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He made up a prodigious quantity of soap-suds, deluged me with them from head to foot, without warning me to shut my eyes, and then swabbed me viciously with the horse-tail. Then he left me there, a snowy statue of lather, and went away.