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Origin and history of wort

wort(n.)

an old word applied to any plant, herb, vegetable, root, etc., Old English wyrt "root, herb, vegetable, plant, spice," from Proto-Germanic *wurtiz (source also of Old Saxon wurt, Old Norse, Danish urt, Old High German wurz "plant, herb," German Wurz, Gothic waurts, Old Norse rot "root"), from PIE root *wrād- "branch, root."

Archaic from mid-17c. but common in old herb-names (St. John's wort attested from 15c.) the broad application of the word can make it difficult to identify what plant is meant.

Entries linking to wort

colewort(n.)

late 14c., "cabbage," later especially "kale, greens;" from cole (n.1) + wort.

collard(n.)

variety of kale with fleshy leaves along the stem, 1755, American English, a Southern corruption of colewort (Middle English) "cabbage," later especially "kale, greens." The first element is related to the cole in cole-slaw; for second element, see wort. Related: Collards.

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herb
c. 1300, erbe "non-woody plant," especially a leafy vegetable used for human food, from Old French erbe "grass, herb, plant fed to animals" (12c., Modern French herbe), from Latin herba "grass, an herb; herbage, turf, weeds" (source also of Spanish yerba, Portuguese herva, Italia
orchard
late Old English orceard "fruit garden; piece of ground, usually enclosed, devoted to the culture of fruit-trees," also for meeting, recreation, etc., earlier ortgeard, perhaps reduced from wortgeard, from wort (Old English wyrt "vegetable, plant root") + geard "garden, yard" (al
root
"underground, downward-growing part of a plant," late Old English rōt and in part from a Scandinavian cognate akin to Old Norse rot "root," figuratively "cause, origin," from Proto-Germanic *wrot (source also of Old English wyrt "root, herb, plant," Old High German wurz, German W
paraphilia
., "Masturbation — Injurious or Harmless," "American Journal of Urology," May 1913] Krauss bereichert uns um das neue Wort..."Paraphilie" anstelle der "Psychopathie," ein fortschrittlich-oppositionelles Wort zwar, aber auch nur ein Wort und als...
malt
By the addition of hops, and the subsequent processes of cooling, fermentation, and clarification, the wort is converted...The alcoholic fermentation of the wort without the addition of hops and distillation yield crude whisky....
Aaron
John's wort and a kind of dwarf evergreen) deemed to look hairy in some way is from 1540s....
mash
"soft mixture, mass of ingredients beaten or stirred together," late Old English *masc (in masc-wyrt "mash-wort, infused...
curtain
c. 1300, curtine, "hanging screen of textile fabric used to close an opening or shut out light, enclose a bed, or decorate an altar," from Old French cortine "curtain, tapestry, drape, blanket," from Late Latin cortina "curtain," but in classical Latin "round vessel, cauldron," f
deadline
"time limit," 1920, American English newspaper jargon, from dead (adj.) + line (n.). Perhaps influenced by earlier use (1864) to mean the "do-not-cross" line in Civil War prisons, which figured in the trial of Henry Wirz, commander of the notorious Confederate prison at Andersonv
obelisk
"tapering rectangular stone column with a pyramidal apex," 1560s, from French obélisque (16c.) and directly from Latin obeliscus "obelisk, small spit," from Greek obeliskos "small spit, obelisk, leg of a compass," diminutive of obelos "a spit, pointed pillar, needle, broach; obel

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