52 entries found

herb (n.)

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, Italian erba). The form of the English word was refashioned after Latin since 15c., but the h- was mute until 19c. Slang meaning "marijuana" is attested from 1960s. The native word is wort.

herbaceous (adj.)

1640s, from Latin herbaceus "grassy," from herba "grass, herbage" (see herb).

herbicide (n.)

"chemical that kills plants," used to destroy unwanted weeds, etc., 1888, originally a trademark name, from herb + -cide "killer." …

herbal (adj.)

1610s, from Latin herbalis, from herba "grass, herb" (see herb). Earlier as a noun, "book that names and classifies plants" (1510s).

herbivorous (adj.)

"plant-eating," 1660s, from Modern Latin herbivorus, from Latin herba "a plant" (see herb) + vorare "devour, swallow" (from PIE root *gwora- "food, devouring").

herbage (n.)

from Medieval Latin herbagium; see herb + -age. In law, the natural pasture as distinct from the land itself.

herbivore (n.)

herbivorus, from herba "a plant" (see herb) + vorare "devour, swallow" (from PIE root *gwora- "food, devouring").

arbor (n.1)

c. 1300, herber, "herb garden, pleasure garden," from Old French erbier "field, meadow; kitchen garden," from Latin ….herba "grass, herb" (see herb). Later "a grassy plot" (mid-14c., a sense also in Old French), "shaded nook, bower formed by intertwining of trees, shrubs, or …

H 

a formerly silent -h- now often vocalized (humble, humor, herb …

herbalist (n.)

herber (early 13c. as a surname), herbarian (1570s), herbarist, herb-man, herbary (1540s). Fem. formation herb-wife is attested from 1580s.
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