What is "senna"

Senna \Sen"na\, n. [Cf. It. & Sp. sena, Pg. sene, F. s['e]n['e]; all fr. Ar. san[=a].]

1. (Med.) The leaves of several leguminous plants of the genus Cassia. ( C. acutifolia, C. angustifolia, etc.). They constitute a valuable but nauseous cathartic medicine.

2. (Bot.) The plants themselves, native to the East, but now cultivated largely in the south of Europe and in the West Indies.

   Bladder senna. (Bot.) See under Bladder.

   Wild senna (Bot.), the Cassia Marilandica, growing in the United States, the leaves of which are used medicinally, like those of the officinal senna.

tropical shrub, 1540s, from Modern Latin senna, from Arabic sana. Earlier was sene (c.1400), from French.

n. 1 (context countable English) Any of several plants of the tribe Cassieae, especially those of the genera ''Cassia'' and ''Senna'', whose leaves and pods are used as a purgative and laxative. 2 (context uncountable English) The dried leaves or pods of these plants (especially of (taxlink Cassia angustifolia species noshow=1) or (taxlink Cassia acutifolia species noshow=1)) used medicinally.

n. any of various plants of the genus Senna having pinnately compound leaves and showy usually yellow flowers; many are used medicinally

Senna may refer to:

Senna (from Arabic sanā), the sennas, is a large genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, and the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. This diverse genus is native throughout the tropics, with a small number of species in temperate regions. The number of species is estimated to be from about 260 to 350. The type species for the genus is Senna alexandrina. About 50 species of Senna are known in cultivation.

Senna is a form of Eddic poetry consisting of an exchange of insults between participants, ranging from the use of expletives to accusing an opponent of moral or sexual impropriety. It traditionally existed in an oral form, with the skald Þórarinn Stuttfeldr once describing the poetry of his opponent as being like leirr ens gamla ara, 'the mud of the old eagle', literally claiming that his poetry was like dung.

There are also numerous written examples of senna in Old Norse-Icelandic literature, including Ölkofra þáttr (The Tale of the Ale-Hood) in which a carpenter is accused of setting fire to the wood of six powerful chieftains while burning charcoal, and the eddic poem Lokasenna, which consists of a duel of words between Loki and several other Norse gods, and in which Loki accuses the other gods of sexual misdeeds.

Senna is a 2010 British documentary film that depicts the life and death of Brazilian motor-racing champion Ayrton Senna, directed by Asif Kapadia. The film was produced by StudioCanal, Working Title Films, and Midfield Films, and was distributed by the parent company of the latter two production companies, Universal Pictures.

The film's narrative focuses on Senna's racing career in Formula One, from his debut in the 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix to his death in an accident at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, with particular emphasis on his rivalry with fellow driver Alain Prost. It relies primarily on archive racetrack footage and home video clips provided by the Senna family, rather than retrospective video interviews, and has no formal commentary.