Sarsaparilla \Sar`sa*pa*ril"la\, n. [Sp. zarzaparrilla; zarza a bramble (perhaps fr. Bisc. zartzia) + parra a vine, or Parillo, a physician said to have discovered it.]

(Bot.)
   (a) Any plant of several tropical American species of Smilax.
   (b) The bitter mucilaginous roots of such plants, used in medicine and in sirups for soda, etc.

Note: The name is also applied to many other plants and their roots, especially to the Aralia nudicaulis, the wild sarsaparilla of the United States.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)