wort
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
Etymology: PIE word
 *wréh₂ds
From Middle English wort, wurt, wyrte (“any herb or plant; herb or plant used as food or medicine; (specifically) cabbage or vegetable of the genus Brassica; (chiefly plural) dish of cooked vegetables”) [and other forms], from Old English wyrt (“a plant; vegetable; herb, spice”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *wurti (“a root; a spice”), from Proto-Germanic *wrōts (“a root”), from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“a root”). Doublet of root and related to orchard.
Cognates
* Old Dutch wort (“herb; plant”) (Middle Dutch wort (“herb; root”))
* Old High German wurz (“herb; root; spice”) (Middle High German wurz, modern German Wurz)
* Old Norse jurt, urt (“herb”) (Icelandic jurt, Norwegian urt, Old Danish urt (modern Danish urt), Old Swedish yrt (“plant”) (modern Swedish ört))
* Old Saxon wurt (“herb; plant; root”) (Middle Low German wort, wurt)
Inflected forms:
form: worts
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Now chiefly as the second element in the names of plants: a plant used for food or medicine.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
historical
examples: [T]he people of his citye, […] shulde be norysshed with barly brede and cakes of whete, and that the residue of their diete shulde be salte, olyues, chese, and likes, and more ouer wortes that the feldes do brynge furthe, for their potage.
[H]e [a poor person] drinks vvater, and liue's of vvort leaues, pulſe, like a hog, or ſcraps like a dog, […]
It is an excellent pleaſure to be able to take pleaſure in vvorts and vvater, in bread and onions; […]
Two saints are credited with giving St. John's wort its name. One was St. John of Jerusalem, who used the wort (plant) during the crusades to heal his knights' battlefield wounds, and the other was John the Baptist.
gloss: Chiefly in the plural: a plant of the genus Brassica used as a vegetable; a brassica; especially, a cabbage (Brassica oleracea).
pos: noun
tags: historical
specifically
examples: VVhy (ſay they in ſcorne and contempt of povertie) here is the ſtem of a vvoort ſo vvell grovvne, here is a cabbage ſo thriven and fed, that a poore mans boord vvill not hold it.
I am poore / And may expect a vvorſe; yet digging, pruning, / Mending of broken vvayes, carrying of vvater, / Planting of VVorts, and Onyons, any thing / That's honeſt, and a mans, Ile rather chooſe, […]
Though ne'er ſo mean the Viands be, / They vvell content my Prevv and me. / Or Pea, or Bean, or VVort, or Beet, / VVhat ever comes, content makes ſvveet: […]
gloss: A non-vascular plant growing on land from the division Anthocerotophyta (the hornworts) or Marchantiophyta (liverworts); an anthocerotophyte or marchantiophyte.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
Derived words: adder's wort
adderwort
asterwort
awlwort
banewort
barrenwort
bearwort
bellwort
birthwort (Aristolochia,
bishop's-wort
bitterwort
bladderwort
blawort
bloodwort
blushwort
bogwort
boragewort
bridewort
brimstonewort
brotherwort
brownwort
bruisewort
bugwort
bullwort
burstwort
butterwort
cancerwort
catwort
clown's ringwort
colewort
coralwort
crosswort
damewort
danewort
dragonwort
dragon's wort
dropwort *
dungwort
earwort *
elderwort
fanwort
felonwort
feltwort
felwort
feverwort
figwort
flapwort
fleawort
flukewort
frostwort
fumewort
galewort
garlicwort
gentianwort
gipsywort
glasswort
goutwort
gutwort
gypsywort
hammerwort
hartwort
heathwort
hillwort
hogwort
hog's wort
holewort
honewort
honeywort
hoodwort
hornwort
ironwort
John's wort
kelpwort
kidneywort
knotwort
laserwort
lazarwort
leadwort
lichwort
lilywort
liverwort
lousewort
lungwort *
lustwort
madderwort
madwort *
mallowwort
marshwort
masterwort
maudlinwort
maywort
meadowwort
milkwort
miterwort
mitrewort
modiwort
moneywort
moonwort
moorwort
motherwort
moudiewort
moudiwort
mowdiewort
mudwort
mugwort
mulewort
nailwort
navelwort *
nettlewort
nipplewort
peachwort
pearlwort
pennywort *
pepperwort
peterwort
pilewort
pillwort
pipewort
quillwort
quinsywort
ragwort *
rattlewort
ribwort
rosewort
rupturewort
saltwort
sandwort
sawwort
saw-wort
scorpionwort
scurvywort
setterwort
sicklewort
sleepwort
slipperwort
sneezewort
soapwort
sparrowwort
spearwort
spiderwort
spleenwort *
spoonwort
springwort
spurwort
St. James' wort
St. John's wort
St. Peter's wort
stabwort
staggerwort
staithwort
standerwort
starwort *
staverwort
stinkwort
stitchwort
stonewort
strapwort
sulphurwort
swallow-wort *
sweetwort
talewort
tetterwort
thoroughwort
throatwort *
thrumwort
toothwort
towerwort
trophywort
wallwort
wartwort
waterwort
willowwort
wortcunning
wortlike
wortlore
worts
worty
wortyard
woundwort *
yellowwort
Translations: