Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Tormentil

Tormentil , noun

[French tormentille; compare Pr., Italian, & New Latin tormentilla, Sp. tormentila; all from Latin tormentum pain. So called because it is said to allay pain. See Torment.]

(Botany) A rosaceous herb (Potentilla Tormentilla), the root of which is used as a powerful astringent, and for alleviating gripes, or tormina, in diarrhea.