Tûr'peth, n.

n. [Written also turbeth and turbith.] [N. Lat. turpethum, from Per. tirbid, a cathartic medicine, turbad, a purgative Indian root.]

1. (Bot.) The root of Ipomœa turpethum, a plant of Ceylon, Malabar, and Australia, which was formerly used in medicine, and has a cathartic power;—sometimes called vegetable turpeth, to distinguish it from mineral turpeth.
2. (Chem.) A yellow salt composed of three equivalents of the protoxide of mercury and one equivalent of sulphuric acid, sometimes used as an emetic, and also as a pigment;—called also turpeth-mineral.