Raphany

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Raphany \Raph"a*ny\ (r[a^]f"[.a]*n[y^]), n. [Cf. F. raphanie.]
     (Med.)
     A convulsive disease, attended with ravenous hunger, not
     uncommon in Sweden and Germany. It was so called because
     supposed to be caused by eating corn with which seeds of
     jointed charlock ({Raphanus raphanistrum}) had been mixed,


     but the condition is now known to be a form of ergotism.
     [1913 Webster]