Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

(Botany) A shrub of the genus Berberis, common along roadsides and in neglected fields. Berberis vulgaris is the species best known; its oblong red berries are made into a preserve or sauce, and have been deemed efficacious in fluxes and fevers. The bark dyes a fine yellow, esp. the bark of the root.