Etymograph

English

belladonna

Belladonna comes from Italian belladonna ‘deadly nightshade, belladonna’, from Proto-Celtic *blātus ‘flower’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₃-1‘bloom, flower’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*blātus2‘flower’reconstructed
  3. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*blātōnā2reconstructed
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500blādōna3‘nightshade’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentbelladonna3‘deadly nightshade, belladonna’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1936belladonna3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Celtic *blātus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin bladona
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English belladonna
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art: “Witches always anointed themselves with ointments before departing up…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰleh₃-Wiktionary, Proto-Celtic *blātus‘bloom, flower’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*blātusWiktionary, Latin bladona‘flower’reconstructed
  3. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*blātōnāWiktionary, Latin bladonareconstructed
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500blādōnaWiktionary, English belladonna‘nightshade’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentbelladonnaWiktionary, English belladonna‘deadly nightshade, belladonna’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1936belladonnaWiktionary, English belladonna. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art: “Witches always anointed themselves with ointments before departing up…”

The story

Borrowed from Italian belladonna (altered by folk etymology: bella donna (‘beautiful lady’)) from Medieval Latin blādōna (‘nightshade’), of Gaulish origin.folk etymology The source marks this as unproven or a folk etymology. Quoted, not asserted. The folk etymology was motivated by the cosmetic use of nightshade for dilating the eyes.folk etymology The source marks this as unproven or a folk etymology. Quoted, not asserted.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- ‘bloom, flower’

full, blood, blow, flower, fool, bless, bloom, blade, floral, foil, bleed, flora, blossom, flourish, folly, folio, ferret, florist, fleur, flor, folic, exfoliate, 55 more

Today it means

noun A plant, Atropa belladonna, having purple bell-shaped flowers and poisonous black glossy berries.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “belladonna”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Celtic *blātus, Latin bladona. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- / belladonna

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