noli me tangere

noun8

1. •
   A warning to avoid or not to interfere.

   • I used to think that I was a good deal of an author in amour propre and noli me tangere; but these prose fellows are worst, after all, about their little comforts. — 1817
2. •
   Any of various plants with fruits or seed capsules that, when ripe, burst open and discharge their seeds when touched, or with leaves that fold and droop when touched.

   • Novv sow the vvild spirting Cucumber, and the Noli me tangere in the natural Ground; they are diverting Plants vvhen their Fruit is full ripe. — 1725
3. •
   Some plants of the genus Impatiens; specifically, the touch-me-not balsam or yellow balsam (Impatiens noli-tangere).
4. •
   The squirting cucumber (Ecballium elaterium).
5. •
   A picture depicting Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene shortly after his resurrection from the dead (see the etymology).

   • In a compartment over the communion-table is an estimable picture; a noli me tangere, by [Anton Raphael] Mengs, who painted it at Rome, and parted with it to the college for three hundred guineas. — 1813
6. •
   Someone (such as a disagreeable person) or something (such as a painful experience or taboo topic) to be avoided or not interfered with.

   • Religion was only the Pretence;—but Monopoly the Noli me tangere, and the real Cause of the Clamours.—[…] — 1753
7. •
   (no longer used) The sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica), the leaves of which fold inwards and droop when shaken or touched.
8. •
   (no longer used) Any of various diseases causing ulcers of the skin and underlying tissues, especially of the face; many of these diseases are now thought to be due to basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma.

   • After the same manner Aristolochia together with Cyperus, healeth the stinking and illfavored ulcer of the nose, called Noli-me-tangere. — 1601