A plant whose leaves or stems twitch or move easily, traditionally used as a remedy for fevers.
From 'fever' plus 'twitch,' a descriptive compound name. The 'twitch' element likely refers to either the plant's delicate, easily-moved parts or to muscle twitching symptoms of fever, connecting the plant's appearance to the condition it treated.
The 'twitch' descriptor is fascinating because it might reference the folk medical principle of 'sympathetic magic'—where plants resembling a symptom were thought to cure it. This practice was called 'the Doctrine of Signatures' in medieval medicine!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.