Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Sarsaparilla
Sarˊsa-pa-ril′la
,Noun.
[Sp.
zarzaparrilla
; zarza
a bramble (perhaps fr. Bisc. zartzia
) + parra
a vine, or Parillo
, a physician said to have discovered it.] (Bot.)
(a)
Any plant of several tropical American species of
Smilax
. (b)
The bitter mucilaginous roots of such plants, used in medicine and in sirups for soda, etc.
☞ The name is also applied to many other plants and their roots, especially to the
Aralia nudicaulis
, the wild sarsaparilla of the United States.