yerba

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   yerba mate: the South American holly Ilex paraguariensis or its dried leaves and twigs, used to make a caffeinated drink

   Bales of yerba were shipped from the plantation to the city market.

2. 2
   noun

   a Spanish-derived word or name element meaning herb or grass, especially in plant and place names

   The former name Yerba Buena literally means good herb in Spanish.

Borrowed from Spanish yerba, 'herb or grass,' a variant of hierba, from Latin herba; it is therefore a doublet of English herb. English yerba usually shortens yerba mate, literally 'mate herb,' but the Spanish element also survives in plant and place names such as Yerba Buena.

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