What is "goat's rue"

Goat \Goat\ (g[=o]t), n. [OE goot, got, gat, AS. g[=a]t; akin to D. geit, OHG. geiz, G. geiss, Icel. geit, Sw. get, Dan. ged, Goth. gaits, L. haedus a young goat, kid.] (Zo["o]l.) A hollow-horned ruminant of the genus Capra, of several species and varieties, esp. the domestic goat ( Capra hircus), which is raised for its milk, flesh, and skin. Note: The Cashmere and Angora varieties of the goat have long, silky hair, used in the manufacture of textile fabrics. The wild or bezoar goat ( Capra [ae]gagrus), of Asia Minor, noted for the bezoar stones found in its stomach, is supposed to be one of the ancestral species of the domestic goat. The Rocky Mountain goat ( Haplocercus montanus) is more nearly related to the antelopes. See Mazame. Goat antelope (Zo["o]l), one of several species of antelopes, which in some respects resemble a goat, having recurved horns, a stout body, large hoofs, and a short, flat tail, as the goral, thar, mazame, and chikara. Goat fig (Bot.), the wild fig. Goat house.

1. A place for keeping goats.

2. A brothel. [Obs.]

   Goat moth (Zo["o]l.), any moth of the genus Cossus, esp. the large European species ( Cossus ligniperda), the larva of which burrows in oak and willow trees, and requires three years to mature. It exhales an odor like that of the he-goat.

   Goat weed (Bot.), a scrophulariaceous plant, of the genus Capraria ( Capraria biflora).

   Goat's bane (Bot.), a poisonous plant ( Aconitum Lucoctonum), bearing pale yellow flowers, introduced from Switzerland into England; wolfsbane.

   Goat's foot (Bot.), a kind of wood sorrel ( Oxalis caprina) growing at the Cape of Good Hope.

   Goat's rue (Bot.), a leguminous plant ( Galega officinalis of Europe, or Tephrosia Virginiana in the United States).

   Goat's thorn (Bot.), a thorny leguminous plant ( Astragalus Tragacanthus), found in the Levant.

   Goat's wheat (Bot.), the genus Tragopyrum (now referred to Atraphaxis).

Rue \Rue\, n. [F. rue, L. ruta, akin to Gr. ?; cf. AS. r?de.]

1. (Bot.) A perennial suffrutescent plant ( Ruta graveolens), having a strong, heavy odor and a bitter taste; herb of grace. It is used in medicine.

   Then purged with euphrasy and rue The visual nerve, for he had much to see.
   --Milton.

   They [the exorcists] are to try the devil by holy water, incense, sulphur, rue, which from thence, as we suppose, came to be called herb of grace.
   --Jer. Taylor.

2. Fig.: Bitterness; disappointment; grief; regret.

   Goat's rue. See under Goat.

   Rue anemone, a pretty springtime flower ( Thalictrum anemonides) common in the United States.

   Wall rue, a little fern ( Asplenium Ruta-muraria) common on walls in Europe.

n. ''Galega officinalis'', a herbaceous plant in the Faboideae subfamily.

1. n. perennial subshrub of eastern North America having downy leaves yellowish and rose flowers and; source of rotenone [syn: catgut, wild sweet pea, Tephrosia virginiana]

2. tall bushy European perennial grown for its masses of light-textured pinnate foliage and slender spikes of blue flowers; sometimes used medicinally [syn: goat rue, Galega officinalis]