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cantharides

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cantharides

  • /kænˈθæɹɪdiːz/ UK

Where it comes from

Late Middle English, from Latin cantharides, plural of cantharis.

noun

  1. uncountable Spanish fly, Lytta vesicatoria (syn. Cantharis vesicatoria).
  2. uncountable Spanish fly; a vesicant extracted from the beetle, popularly held to have aphrodisiac properties. I can make the most subtle sauces yield up their secret—whether it be white arsenic, rosalgar, mercury sublimate, or cantharides.

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MLA

"cantharides." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/cantharides. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

cantharides. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/cantharides

Chicago

"cantharides." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/cantharides.

BibTeX
@misc{cantharides_2026,
  title = {cantharides},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cantharides},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}