henbit
noun
Forms henbits
- noun An annual herb, of species Lamium amplexicaule, with pink or purple flowers and deeply crenate leaves.
- noun (by extension) Other species of plant that resemble L. amplexicaule, especially related species of deadnettle in the genus Lamium.
Synonyms
henbit deadnettle common henbit greater henbit Lamium amplexicaule
Etymology
Calque of Dutch hoenderbeet. By surface analysis, hen + bit (past participle of bite; bitten). First attested in 1578.
Cognate with Middle Low German hennebit and German Hühnerbiss; all likely derived from Medieval Latin Morsus gallinae, the ancestor of Italian mordigallina, French morgeline and obsolete English margeline.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “henbit”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details