different between styptic vs amadou

English

Alternative forms

• styptick (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin stypticus, from Ancient Greek ????????? (stuptikós), from ??????? (stúphein, “to contract”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?st?pt?k/

Adjective

styptic (comparative more styptic, superlative most styptic)

1. Bringing about contraction of tissues; harsh, raw, austere.
   • 1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin 2006, p. 328:

     Boyles turns to look over his shoulder, squinting into the styptic sun, and then flags a hand over his head.

2. (medicine, by extension) That stops bleeding.
   • 1973, Nicholas Monsarrat, The Kapillan of Malta:

     The growth on top was a scrubby plant, unknown anywhere else on Malta, which was believed to have styptic qualities – it could staunch bleeding when packed on top of a wound […].

   • 1959, Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon:

     But I waited while he dabbed at the cut with styptic powder.

Noun

styptic (plural styptics)

1. A substance used for styptic results.
   • 1990, A. L. Tommie Bass et al., Herbal Medicine Past and Present

     Knowledge of puffball's use as a styptic and for hemorrhoids reached Bass through the popular tradition.

Derived terms

• hemostyptic
• styptic pencil

English

Etymology

From French amadou (“tinder, lure, bait”), from amadouer (“to allure, caress”), perhaps from Icelandic mata (“to feed”), which is akin to English meat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?æ.m?.du?/

Noun

amadou (uncountable)

1. A spongy, flammable substance prepared from bracket fungi, formerly used as a styptic and as tinder.

Translations

References

French

Etymology

From Middle French *amadou, from amadouer (“to coax, cajole, rub with touchwood”). Alternatively, often considered to be derived from Provençal amadou, from Latin amator. More at amadouer.

Noun

amadou m (plural amadous)

1. lure; bait
2. tinder; kindling; touchwood; spunk

Related terms

• amadouer

Further reading

• “amadou” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).