vervain
UK /ˈvɜːveɪn/ · US /ˈvɚveɪn/ noun
Forms vervains vervaine vervein verveine
- noun Any herbaceous plant in the genus Verbena especially if used for medicinal purposes, primarily Verbena officinalis, common in Europe and formerly held to have medicinal properties.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English verveyne, from Old French verveine, from Latin verbēna. Doublet of verbena.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any plant of the genus Verbena. Vervain mallow (Bot.), a species of mallow (Malva Alcea) with rose-colored flowers.
Etymology [OE. verveine, F. verveine, fr. L. verbena, pl. verbenae sacred boughs of laurel, olive, or myrtle, a class of plants; cf. verbenaca vervain. Cf. Verbena.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “vervain”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details