Dill

Statema, B. C. P.

Plant

Dill

Aneto

Known today as: Anethum graveolens.
Kind: Plant, in 1 older authority
Constituents: carvone, limonene, dillapiole, and 1 more
Earliest authority here: Matthew 23:23 (the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament)
In other databases: Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
In the Canale glossary: On the Manner of Discerning and Healing the Bewitched, Appendix A: Part Three, Chapter 5: Vomitory Medicines

Revised October 1, 2026: Lore added from texts read in full. Version 1, first published September 25, 2026.

Dill: what did Canale use it for?

A decoction of dill with almond oil and rancid butter as a gentle vomit; its flowers and seeds likewise; in baths for cold complexions; blessed, in the oil of Treatise Two (chs. 5, 7, 9).

Dill: what does modern science say?

Dill is a carminative.

Pharmacognosy & Toxicology

Constituents

carvone ChEMBL40–60 per cent of the fruit oil
limonene ChEMBL
dillapiole ChEMBLin the fruit
alpha-phellandrene ChEMBLin the leaf

Mechanism

Carvone relaxes gut smooth muscle, which is the carminative of gripe water; the oil is mildly antibacterial. Dill with rancid butter vomits by the butter, not the dill.

Toxic dose

Safe in food amounts; dillapiole is related to the hepatotoxic apiole of parsley and limits the oil.

Standing

The fruit is in the German tradition (Commission E) for dyspepsia; gripe water held dill oil until the twentieth century.

Blumenthal, M., ed. (1998). The Complete German Commission E Monographs, “Dill seed.” Standard reference work
Jana, S., and Shekhawat, G. S. (2010). “Anethum graveolens: an Indian traditional medicinal herb and spice.” Pharmacognosy Reviews 4. Verified against its record · doi:10.3923/rjmp.2010.206.212

The abstract of each source, beneath its citation. For Club members. About the Club or sign in.

Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.

Dill: what lore surrounds it?

Folkard has the name “by some supposed to have derived its name from the old Norse word dilla, dull; the seeds being used as a carminative to cause infants to sleep.” Boiled in wine and drunk “the plant was reputed to excite the passions,” and it “was formerly highly appreciated as a plant that counteracted the powers of witches and sorcerers,” with the rhyme “The Vervain and the Dill, That hindereth witches of their will.” Astrologers assigned it to Mercury.

Thiselton-Dyer confirms that “dill and flax were worn as talismans against sorcery.”

Dill: what did the older authorities say?

Matthew 23:23: The Pharisees tithe “mint and anise and cummin”; the Greek anethon is dill.

Sources

[16] The British Pharmaceutical Codex (1911). London: Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Monographs as transcribed at Henriette’s Herbal Homepage, henriettes-herb.com. Read in full · the text read

Folkard, R. (1884). Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics, “Dill.” Project Gutenberg #44638. Primary text
Thiselton-Dyer, T. F. (1889). The Folk-lore of Plants. Project Gutenberg #10118. Read in part · the text read

Verification

Checked

October 1, 2026

Passes

Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
Each quotation from the older authorities checked word for word against the text, read in full

Sources

5 cited: 1 read in full, 1 read in part, 1 verified against its record, 1 primary text, 1 standard reference work. 1 with the abstract on file.

Corrections

None were needed.

What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.

Cite This Entry

Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026 · last revised October 1, 2026

Chicago: “Dill.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 1, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/dill.
MLA: “Dill.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 1 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/dill. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
APA: Dill. (2026, October 1). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/dill

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