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Added 9 October 2026

wort

/wɜːt/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about wort at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Now chiefly as the second element in the names of plants: a plant used for food or medicine.
:
Chiefly in the plural: a plant of the genus Brassica used as a vegetable; a brassica; especially, a cabbage (Brassica oleracea).
A non-vascular plant growing on land from the division Anthocerotophyta (the hornworts) or Marchantiophyta (liverworts); an anthocerotophyte or marchantiophyte.

noun

Also worts: a liquid extracted from mash (ground malt or some other grain soaked in hot water), which is then fermented to make beer, or fermented and distilled to make a malt liquor such as whisky.

Origin

PIE word *wréh₂ds From Middle English wort, wurt, wyrte (“any herb or plant; herb or plant used as food or medicine; (specifically) cabbage or vegetable of the genus Brassica; (chiefly plural) dish of cooked vegetables”) [and other forms], from Old English wyrt (“a plant; vegetable; herb, spice”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *wurti (“a root; a spice”), from Proto-Germanic *wrōts (“a root”), from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“a root”). Doublet of root and related to orchard.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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