herb
nounAU, NZ, UK /hɜːb/ · CA, US /(h)ɝb/
Etymology From Middle English herbe, erbe, from Old French erbe (French herbe), from Latin herba. Initial h was restored to the spelling in the 15th century on the basis of Latin, but it remained mute until the 19th century and still is for many speakers. Doublet of yerba.
2
Archaic Grass; herbage.
- flocks grazing the tender herb1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
3
Any green, leafy plant, or parts thereof, used to flavour or season food.
4
A plant whose roots, leaves or seeds, etc. are used in medicine.
- If any medicinal herbs used by witches were supposedly evil, then how come people from at least the past benefited from the healing properties of such herbs?
- For twenty-five years he has done all sorts of odd jobs: digging ginseng (a herb) in the Long White Mountains, fishing in the Black River, and washing gold dust at Hailanpao. Without this education, he would never have become an undaunted revolutionary.1973, Joe C. Huang, “The Formative Years - The Village”, in Heroes and Villains in Communist China: The Contemporary Chinese Novel as a Reflection of Life, New York: Pica Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 33:
5
Slang Cannabis.
- The room was thick and sour with the smell of herb.1981 February 14, Andrea Loewenstein, “Voices in the Night”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 29, page 8:
- You think he's got any herb?1995, Harmony Korine, Kids, spoken by Casper:
- George (AO) describes the tie between fighting and respect: 'Cause some people could come up to you and say, “Ah, he's a herb, he can't fight. He's nothing.”2008, Maryann Dickar, Corridor Cultures: Mapping Student Resistance at an Urban School, page 88:
- Derived terms
47 terms
African dream herb, cowherb, death's herb, devil's herb, fuller's herb, herbarian, herb bennet, herb box, herb butter, herb Christopher, herb doctor, herbed, herb Gerard, herbiferous, herbish, herbist, herb knife, herbland, herbless, herblike, herblore, herbmaster, herbmistress, herb of grace, herb of repentance, herb of the cross, herbology, herbous, herb-paris, herb paris, herb Peter, herb Robert, herbs and spices, herb tea, herb trinity, herb twopence, herbwoman, megaherb, multiherb, paleoherb, potherb, rice paddy herb, rosebay willow herb, strewing herb, superherb, willowherb, willow herb- Related terms
- arbour, herbaceous, herbage, herbal, herbarium, herbicidal, herbicide, herbivore, herbivorous, herbed up, herblet, pseudoherb