A legendary or fabled creature from medieval and Renaissance European folklore, supposedly a plant that grows a small lamb or sheep-like animal at the end of its stalk.
From Russian 'baranets' or Tartar origins, ultimately possibly from Mongolian roots. European travelers' tales about Central Asian plants led to wild imaginative descriptions that created this myth in medieval bestiaries.
The barometz is one of history's wildest examples of telephone-game gone wrong—travelers saw unusual plants in Central Asia, exaggerated the descriptions, and Europeans eventually drew it as a furry lamb dangling from a plant, and this fake creature appeared in serious encyclopedias for centuries.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.