astragalus

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: a=strag=a=lus

CIDE DICTIONARY

astragalus, n. [L. See Astragal.].

•  The ankle bone, or hock bone; the bone of the tarsus which articulates with the tibia at the ankle.  [1913 Webster]
•  A genus of papilionaceous plants, of the tribe Galegeæ, containing numerous species, two of which are called, in English, milk vetch and licorice vetch. Gum tragacanth is obtained from different oriental species, particularly the Astragalus gummifer and Astragalus verus.  [1913 Webster]
•  See Astragal, 1.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

astragalus, n. (pl. -li)
1 Anat. = TALUS(1).
2 Bot. a leguminous plant of the genus Astragalus, e.g. the milk-vetch.

Etymology

L f. Gk astragalos ankle-bone, moulding, a plant