castoreum

• castorium

castoreum (countable and uncountable, plural castoreums)

1. The bitter exudate of the castor sacs of mature beavers.
   • 1835 November 28, Jon Pereira, Lectures on Materia Medica, or Pharmacology, and General Therapeutics: Lecture IX: On Castoreum, London Medical Gazette, Volume 17, page 299,

     One of the substances tried was castoreum. […] If I were to judge from my own experience, I would say castoreum has very little therapeutic power, for I have not seen much benefit from its employment in those cases to which this remedy is said to be adapted.

   • 1999, L. Sun, D. Müller-Schwarze, Chemical Signals in the Beaver: One Species, Two Secretions, Many Functions?, Robert E. Johnston, Dietland Müller-Schwarze, Peter W. Sorenson (editors), Advances in Chemical Signals in Vertebrates, page 284,

     While the role of castoreum as a means of territorial advertisement has been extensively investigated and supported, the possibility of coding for sex information has not yet been excluded.

   • 2004, Christian V. Stevens, Roland Verhé, Renewable Bioresources: Scope and Modification for Non-Food Applications, page 257,

     Synthetic castoreums are now available, and can be as good as the natural fragrant^[sic].

2. (archaic) A hat made from beaver fur.

• (exudate): castor
• (hat): beaver

• Castoreum (genus of Mesophelliaceae)

• outscream