Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - asafetida

 or asafoetida  noun  Etymology: Middle English ~, from Medieval Latin asafoetida, from Persian aza mastic + Latin foetida, feminine of foetidus fetid  Date: 14th century the dried fetid gum resin of the root of several west Asian plants (genus Ferula) of the carrot family used as a flavoring especially in Indian cooking and formerly used in medicine especially as an antispasmodic and in folk medicine as a general prophylactic against disease