motherwort

moth·er·wort

M m

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [muhth -er-wurt, -wawrt]
- /ˈmʌð ərˌwɜrt, -ˌwɔrt/
- /mˈʌðəwˌɔːt/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [muhth -er-wurt, -wawrt]
- /ˈmʌð ərˌwɜrt, -ˌwɔrt/

Definitions of motherwort word

noun motherwort a European plant, Leonorus cardiaca, of the mint family, an introduced weed in the U.S., having cut leaves with a whorl of lavender flowers in the axils. 1
noun motherwort A tall strong-smelling plant of the mint family, with purplish-pink lipped flowers clustering close to the axils. It is used in herbal medicine, especially in the treatment of gynecological disorders. 1
noun motherwort any of several plants of the Eurasian genus Leonurus, esp L. cardiaca, having divided leaves and clusters of small purple or pink flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates) 0
noun motherwort any of a genus (Leonurus) of weedy plants of the mint family; esp., an Old World perennial (L. cardiaca) with pink or purplish flowers and a spiny, toothed calyx 0

See all 4 definitions of motherwort

Information block about the term

Origin of motherwort

First appearance:

before 1350

One of the 20% oldest English words

1350-1400; Middle English moderwort (see mother1, wort2), so called because believed helpful for diseases of the womb

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Motherwort

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Motherwort

motherwort popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 48% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

motherwort usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer