A plant (celandine or lesser celandine) historically used in folk medicine, supposedly to treat cancers or warts.
From cancer + drops (liquid medicine), a folk medical term combining the disease name with a common remedy form. The name reflects medieval herbalism's attempts to match appearance to treatment.
Cancerdrops is a perfect example of the 'doctrine of signatures'—medieval healers thought the plant's caustic juice could burn away cancers because it could burn warts.
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