motherwort
English
Etymology
From Middle English moderwort; equivalent to mother + wort.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈmʌðəwəːt/
Noun
motherwort (plural motherworts)
- Any of several perennial plants of the genus Leonurus, especially Leonurus cardiaca, used in traditional medicine to help with childbirth or treat uterine disorders. [from 13th c.]
- 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society 2007, p. 195:
- Besides, it makes women joyful and mothers of children and settles their wombs as they should be; therefore we call it Motherwort.
- 1827, Lydia Sigourney, Poems, The Comet of 1825, page 151:
- —Miss Luna, muffling up her head,
Went with the ague, straight to bed,
Put out her lamp, and bade them tell
She could not hear her mistress' bell,
Begg'd them with motherwort to dose her,
And drew her cloudy night-cap closer.—
- 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society 2007, p. 195:
- Artemisia vulgaris.
Translations
plant of the genus Leonurus
|
Leonurus cardiaca
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Artemisia vulgaris — see mugwort
References
- motherwort at OneLook Dictionary Search
- motherwort in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- motherwort on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Leonurus on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
- Leonurus on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons