late 14c., from Old French ellebore, from Latin elleborus, from Greek helleboros, perhaps meaning "plant eaten by fawns," from Greek ellos/hellos "fawn" + bora "food of beasts," from bibroskein "to eat," from PIE root *gwere- (4) "to swallow" (see voracity). Among the ancients, the name given to various plants of both poisonous and medicinal qualities, reputed to cure madness.