Webster's English Dictionary

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spikenard

spike.nard \'spi-k-.na:rd\ n [ME, fr. MF or ML; MF spicandarde, fr. ML 
   spica nardi, lit., spike]of nard 1a: a fragrant ointment of the ancients  
   1b: an East Indian aromatic plant (Nardostachys jatamansi) of the val erian 
   family from which the above is believed to have been derived 2: an American 
   herb (Aralia racemosa) of the ginseng family with arom atic root and 
   panicled umbels