wyrt

Old English

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *wurti, from Proto-Germanic *wurt-, the oblique stem of *wrōts (whence root).

Cognate with Old Saxon wurt, Old High German wurz, Old Norse urt, Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍄𐍃 (waurts).

Alternative forms

• wert — Kentish
• wirt — Late Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wyrt/, [wyrˠt]

Noun

wyrt f

1. plant
   • c. 992, Ælfric, "The 16th Sunday After Pentecost"

     Wyrta sind īeðelīca ġesċeafta and þurh winterlīcne ċiele simle forsēariaþ.

     Plants are tender creatures, and they always wither in the winter cold.

   • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy

     Sumra wyrta oþþe sumes wuda eard biþ on dūnum, sumra on merscum, sumra on mōrum, sumra on clūdum, sumra on barum sandum.

     Some plants and trees have their home on hills, some in marshes, some on moors, some on rocks, some on bare sand.

   • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Saint Augustine's Soliloquies

     Æppla, græs, and wyrta, and treowu forealdiaþ and forsēariaþ, and ōðru cumaþ, grēnu weaxaþ, and ġierwaþ and rīpaþ, for þæt hīe eft onġinnaþ sēarian.

     Apples, grass, and plants, and trees grow old and wither, while others appear, grow green, reach maturity, and ripen, and with that they begin to wither as well.

2. vegetable
   • c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English

     Holus: "wyrt."

     Holus: "vegetable."

   • early 11th century, anonymous gloss of Ælfric's Latin Colloquy (c. 995)

     "Hwæt māre itst þū?" "Wyrta and ǣġru, fisċ and ċīese, buteran and bēana."

     "What else do you eat?" "Vegetables and eggs, fish and cheese, butter and beans."

   • early 11th century, anonymous gloss of Ælfric's Latin Colloquy (c. 995)

     Ġif ġē mē ūt ādrīfaþ fram ēowrum ġefērsċipe, ġē etaþ ēowre wyrta grēne and ēowre flǣsċmetas hrēawe.

     If you drive me out of your society, you'll eat your vegetables uncooked and your meat raw. [Said by a cook.]

   • unknown date and author, monastic sign language guide

     Ġesodenra wyrta tācn is þæt þū dō mid þīnre ōðerre handa niðewearde be þǣre sīdan swelċe þū sċearfian wille. Þonne þū grēne wyrta habban wille, þonne sete þū þīnne finger on þīne winestran hand.

     The sign for cooked vegetables is that you take your hand and make a downward motion along your side as if you're cutting them up. When you want raw vegetables, place your finger on your left hand.

3. herb, spice
   • c. 992, Ælfric, "On the Dedication of a Church"

     Hire olfendas bǣron sūðerne wyrta, and dīerwierðe ġimmas, and unġerīm goldes.

     Her camels were carrying southern spices, precious gems, and endless gold.

   • Blickling Homilies, "Palm Sunday"

     Marīa ġenam ān pund dīerwierðre smierenesse and smierede mid þæs Hǣlendes fēt and mid hire loccum drȳġde. Þā wæs eall þæt hūs ġefylled mid þon swētan stenċe. Þēos smierenes wæs ġeworht of eahtatīene cynna wyrtum.

     Mary took a pound of precious ointment and rubbed it on Jesus' feet and dried them with her hair. Then the whole house was filled with the sweet smell. This ointment was made from 18 kinds of herbs.

4. (rare) root of a plant
   • c. 950–1050. Anonymous, "Daniel (Old English poem)", in Oxford, Boleian Library, Junius 11, ll. 497–499. Reprinted in 2013, Bintley, Michael D. J.; Shapland, Michael G. (eds.), Trees and Timber in the Anglo-Saxon World, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, p. 219. Translation from the same.

     Þuhte him þæt on foldan | fægre stode / wudubeam wlitig, | se wæs wyrtum fæst, / beorht on blædum.

     It seemed to him that there stood, fair upon the earth, a peerless tree that was steadfast in its roots and bright in its fruits.

   • 975–1025 (date of MS). Anonymous, Beowulf, in the Nowell Codex. Translated and reprinted in 1999. Heaney, Seamus (trans.), Beowulf: A New Verse Translation, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, pp. 94–95, l. 1364.

     wudu wyrtum fæst | wæter oferhelmað

     Woods secured by roots cover over the water

Declension

Strong i-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	wyrt	wyrte, wyrta
accusative	wyrt, wyrte	wyrte, wyrta
genitive	wyrte	wyrta
dative	wyrte	wyrtum

Derived terms

Derived terms

• ǣġwyrt
• bēowyrt
• bisċopwyrt
• broþorwyrt
• cyninges wyrt
• ēawyrt
• feldwyrt
• feltwyrt
• fīcwyrt
• ġelodwyrt
• ġewyrtbox
• hæselwyrt
• hrætelwyrt
• hyllwyrt
• lǣċewyrt
• nædrewyrt
• smeoruwyrt
• strǣlwyrt
• wealhwyrt
• wyrtcyn
• wyrtcynren
• wyrtġemang
• wyrtian
• wyrttūn
• wyrtwala
• wyrtwalian
• wyrtweard

 

Descendants

• Middle English: wurt, worte, wort
  • English: wort
  • Middle Scots: *wort (attested in plural wortis)
    • Scots: wirt
  • ⇒ Middle English: wurten, worten (“resembling or pertaining to spice, herbal”, adj)

Etymology 2

From a merger of Proto-West Germanic *wurtiju (“spice”) and Proto-West Germanic *wurti (“herb”). Cognate with Old Saxon wurtia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wyrt/, [wyrˠt]

Noun

wyrt f

1. wort (as in brewing)

Declension

Strong ō-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	wyrt	wyrta, wyrte
accusative	wyrte	wyrta, wyrte
genitive	wyrte	wyrta
dative	wyrte	wyrtum

Derived terms

• grēat wyrt
• māxwyrt
• mealtwyrt

Descendants

• Middle English: wort, worte
  • English: wort
  • Scots: wirt

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “wyrt”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.