herb
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (2)herbs
- a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pestsSynonyms: herbaceous plantType of vascular plant, tracheophyteKinds clover, legume, plantain lily, dandelion, banana, hoary puccoon, crotalaria, basil thyme, white snakeroot, globeflower +336 moreParts vegetable, veggie
- aromatic potherb used in cookery for its savory qualitiesType of flavorer, flavourerKinds sage, lemon balm, sweet cicely, bay leaf, fines herbes, comfrey, marjoram, mint, lovage, angelica +18 more
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Noun plant used for flavouring, food or medicine
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: OE. herbe, erbe, OF. herbe, erbe, F. herbe, L. herba; perh. akin to Gr. φορβή food, pasture, φέρβειν to feed.
1. A plant whose stem does not become woody and permanent, but dies, at least down to the ground, after flowering.
☞ Annual herbs live but one season; biennial herbs flower the second season, and then die; perennial herbs produce new stems year after year.
2. Grass; herbage.
And flocks Grazing the tender herb.— John Milton
Herb bennet. Botany See Bennet. — Herb Christopher Botany, an herb (Actaea spicata), whose root is used in nervous diseases; the baneberry. The name is occasionally given to other plants, as the royal fern, the wood betony, etc. — Herb Gerard Botany, the goutweed; — so called in honor of St. Gerard, who used to be invoked against the gout. Richard Chandler Alexander Prior — Herb grace, or Herb of grace. Botany See Rue. — Herb Margaret Botany, the daisy. See Marguerite. — Herb Paris Botany, an Old World plant related to the trillium (Paris quadrifolia), commonly reputed poisonous. — Herb Robert Botany, a species of Geranium (Geranium Robertianum.)
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54