Alternative spelling of assafetida; a pungent gum resin used as a seasoning and medicinal ingredient.
From Latin 'asa' (variant of 'aza') + 'foetida' (foul-smelling), showing the Latinate version of the Persian-derived name. This spelling emphasizes the Latin 'foetida' root and became one of several competing English spellings in the 17th-19th centuries.
The existence of multiple spellings like assafetida/assafoetida shows how English didn't standardize exotic word borrowings until printing became centralized—different merchants, traders, and scholars Anglicized Persian names differently, creating spelling chaos that took centuries to resolve.
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