[French sinapisme, from Late Latin sināpismus, from Greek sināpismos, use of a mustard plaster, from sināpizein, to apply a mustard plaster, from sināpi, mustard, perhaps variant of earlier nāpu.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.