SQUILL

SQUILL
SQUILL (Heb. חָצָב, ḥaẓav (mish.) or חֲצוּב, ḥaẓuv), the Urginea maritima, a plant with a very large bulb that grows wild in almost every district of Israel. It lies dormant in the summer, its leaves withering, but later a stalk with a large inflorescence bearing hundreds of flowers bursts out of the bulb. The roots are very long and descend vertically into the earth as if digging into it, and some connect its name (ḥaẓav; "to dig") with this characteristic. Because of this the squill was sometimes used for demarcating fields (cf. BB 55a). According to tradition Joshua marked out with it the boundaries of Israel and of the tribes (TJ, Pe'ah 2:1, 16d). It was said that "the squill cripples the wicked" (Beẓah 25b), because it prevents them from removing the boundaries. The rind of its bulb is juicy and was used by some for implanting fig shoots (Kil. 1:8; so too Theophrastus, Historia Plantarum, 2:5, 5). Its leaves and bulb contain poisonous matter and few animals eat it. According to the baraita (Shab. 128a) it was eaten by gazelles and Noah prepared "squills for the gazelles" (Gen. R. 31:14) in the ark. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Loew, Flora, 2 (1924), 188–94; E. and H. Ha-Reubeni, He-Ḥaẓav (1938); J. Feliks, Kilei Zera'im ve-Harkavah (1967), 161–2; H.L. Ginsberg, Kohelet (1961), 131–2; idem, Five Megilloth and Jonah (1969), 77. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Feliks, Ha-Ẓome'aḥ, 68. (Jehuda Feliks)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

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  • Squill — (skw[i^]l), n. [F. squille (also scille a squill, in sense 1), L. squilla, scilla, Gr. ?.] 1. (Bot.) (a) A European bulbous liliaceous plant ({Urginea maritima}, formerly {Scilla maritima}), of acrid, expectorant, diuretic, and emetic properties …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • squill — like, adj. /skwil/, n. 1. the bulb of the sea onion, Urginea maritima, of the lily family, cut into thin slices and dried, and used in medicine chiefly as an expectorant. 2. the plant itself. 3. any related plant of the genus Scilla. [1350 1400;… …   Universalium

  • squill — ► NOUN 1) (also sea squill) a Mediterranean plant with broad leaves and white flowers. 2) a small plant resembling a hyacinth, with clusters of violet blue or blue striped flowers. ORIGIN Greek skilla …   English terms dictionary

  • squill — [skwil] n. [ME < L squilla, scilla < Gr skilla] 1. SEA ONION 2. SCILLA …   English World dictionary

  • squill — The cut and dried fleshy inner scales of the bulb of the white variety of Urginea maritima (Mediterranean s.), or of U. indica (Indian s.) (family Liliaceae); the central portion of the bulb is excluded during its processing; s. contains cardiac… …   Medical dictionary

  • squill — paprastasis jūrsvogūnis statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Hiacintinių šeimos dekoratyvinis, vaistinis nuodingas augalas (Drimia maritima), paplitęs Viduržemio jūros regione, Afrikoje. atitikmenys: lot. Drimia maritima; Urginea maritima angl.… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • squill — noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo French squille, Latin squilla, scilla, from Greek skilla Date: 14th century 1. a. a Mediterranean bulbous herb (Urginea maritima) of the lily family called also sea onion compare red squill 1 b. (1) the… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • squill — noun 1》 (also sea squill) a coastal Mediterranean bulbous plant with broad leaves and white flowers. [Drimia maritima.]     ↘(also squills) an extract of the squill bulb, which is poisonous and has medicinal uses. 2》 a small plant resembling a… …   English new terms dictionary

  • squill — [[t]skwɪl[/t]] n. 1) pln the bulb of the sea onion, Urginea maritima, of the lily family, cut into thin slices and dried: used esp. as an expectorant 2) pln the plant itself 3) pln any related plant of the genus Scilla[/ex] • Etymology:… …   From formal English to slang

  • squill — scylė statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Šeima. Hiacintiniai – Hyacinthaceae Batsch ex Borkh. atitikmenys: lot. Scilla angl. bluebell; squill; starry jacinth vok. Blaustern; Scilla rus. пролеска; сцилла lenk. cebulica; scilla …   Dekoratyvinių augalų vardynas

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