betony

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a perennial herb, especially Stachys officinalis, with spikes of purple flowers and a history of medicinal use

   Purple betony flowered along the edge of the woodland path.

2. 2
   noun

   a plant given a compound name ending in betony, including some louseworts of the genus Pedicularis

   The field guide identified the yellow plant as lousewort, sometimes called alpine betony.

From Middle English betayne, through Old French and Medieval Latin from Latin betonica or vettonica. Ancient writers connected the plant name with the Vettones, a people of the Iberian Peninsula.

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