melissa
nounUS, UK /məˈlɪsə/
Etymology From Late Latin melissa, from Ancient Greek μέλισσα (mélissa, “bee”), because the plant attracts bees.
1
A plant of the genus Melissa, especially lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), often used medicinally.
- Meliſſa, Bawme, hath an excellent vertue to alter Melancholy, bee it ſteeped in our ordinary drinke, extracted, or otherwise taken.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Alternatiues, Hearbes, Other Creatures, &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section 4, member 1, subsection 3, page 300:
- Synonyms
- dropsywort, honey plant