cress
/kɹɛs/ noun, proper noun
Also a form of kris
Forms cresses
- noun (botany) A plant of various species, chiefly cruciferous. The leaves have a moderately pungent taste, and are used as a salad and antiscorbutic.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English cresse, crasse, from Old English cressa, cærse (“cress”), from Proto-West Germanic *krassjō, from Proto-Germanic *krasjô (“cress”). Cognate with West Frisian kers (“cress”), Dutch kers (“cress”), German Kresse (“cress”), Danish karse (“cress”), Swedish krasse (“cress”), Icelandic krassi (“cress”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A plant of various species, chiefly cruciferous. The leaves have a moderately pungent taste, and are used as a salad and antiscorbutic.
Etymology [OE. ces, cresse, kers, kerse, AS. cresse, cerse; akin to D. kers, G. kresse, Dan. karse, Sw. krasse, and possibly also to OHG. chresan to creep.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cress”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details