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herb twopence

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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Suggested by Maud Grieve to be due to the leaves looking like rows of paired pennies.[1]

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

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herb twopence (uncountable)

  1. moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia)
    • [1551, William Turner, A new Herball:
      Herbe 2 pence]
    • [1934, Cicely Mary Barker, “The Herb Twopence Fairy”, in A Flower Fairy Alphabet‎[2]:
      Have you one name? I have many: / “Wandering Sailor”, “Creeping Jenny”, / “Money-wort”, and of the rest / “Strings of Sovereigns” is the best, / (That’s my yellow flowers, you see.) / “Meadow Runagates” is me, / And “Herb Twopence”.]

References

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  1. ^ Kevin Flude (2023 June 14) “And Did Those Feet: the Past brought to Life”, in June 14th Moneywort‎[1], archived from the original on February 22, 2024: “Mrs Grieve suggests that the two pence idea comes from the leaves which ‘look like rows of pennies, and the golden flowers which give the name String of Sovereigns.’”
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