Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RHU'BARB, n. [Pers. رَاوَندْ rawand. In Syr. raiborig. It seems to be a compound word, Latinized rhabarbarum.]

A plant of the genus Rheum, of several species; as, the rhapontic, or common rhubarb; the palmated, or Chinese rhubarb; the compact, or Tartarian; the undulated, or wave-leafed rhubarb; and the ribes, or currant rhubarb of mount Libanus. The root of a hitherto non-descript species is medicinal and much used as a moderate cathartic.