wyrt

wyrt¹ plant, herb, root

Pronunciation

• /wyrt/, [wyrˠt]^[1]

Forms

wyrt f (strong i-stem; genitive singular wyrte, nominative plural wyrte)^[1] Kentish Glosses: werta.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *wurti, from Proto-Germanic *wurtiz (“root, plant”).^[1][3] Its cognates are Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍄𐍃 (waurts, “root”), Old Norse urt (“herb”), Old Saxon wurt and Old High German wurz (“herb, plant”).^[4][5][6]

Wiktionary takes it from the oblique stem of the root noun Proto-Germanic *wrōts (“root”), the source of Old Norse rót.^[1][3] Orel compares Latin rādīx (“root”), Ancient Greek ῥάδιξ (rhádix, “branch”) and Welsh gwraidd (“root”), and Köbler and Holthausen give the root as Pokorny's Proto-Indo-European *wrād- (“branch, root”).^[4][7][6] Kroonen is doubtful: the Norse root noun has lost its initial /w/, which the link with the i-stem would leave unexplained.^[8]

The /i/ of the ending caused i-umlaut of /u/ to /y/ and was then lost after the heavy syllable: *wurti > *wyrti > wyrt.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded from the mid-ninth century: the Old English gloss of the Vespasian Psalter has wyrte ðeowdome monna over the Latin “herbam seruituti hominum” of Psalm 103, the herb that the earth brings forth "for the service of men".^[10][11] In the Pastoral Care of 890×897 the physician sweetens bitter wyrta with honey.^[12][11]

Semantic evolution

The word covers any plant or herb, in the glosses for Latin herba, and a garden herb or vegetable, for Latin olus.^[2][7] It is very frequent in the medical texts and in the names of many plants.^[2][13] In poetry it can mean a root: in Beowulf the trees over the mere are wyrtum fæst, "fast by their roots".^[14][2] The editors of the plant-name dictionary rule this sense out for the Leechbook, where the root of a plant is wyrttruma.^[13]

The word lived on as Middle English wurt, now English wort, archaic since the seventeenth century except in old plant names such as Saint John's wort.^[1][15]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – wyrte “herb” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[10][11]
• 890×897 – bitter wyrta in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[12][11]
• s. x med. – herbs in Bald's Leechbook (Royal 12 D. xvii).^[16][11]
• s. x/xi – wyrtum fæst “fast by the roots” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[17][14]

Meanings

Noun

1. a plant, herb.^[2][18]
2. a garden herb, vegetable.^[2][19]
3. a spice.^[18][7]
4. crop, produce of the field.^[18][19]
5. (poetic) a root.^[2][14]

Word family

• wyrtgeard
• wyrttruma
• wyrtwala
• wyrtmete
• wyrtiġ
• wuduwyrt

Descendants

• Middle English wurt (→ English wort; Scots wirt)^[1]

wyrt² wort (brewing)

Pronunciation

• /wyrt/, [wyrˠt]^[1]

Forms

wyrt f (strong ō-stem; genitive singular wyrte, nominative plural wyrta)^[1]

Etymology

The brewing wort is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *wurtiju (“spice”), merged with Proto-West Germanic *wurti (“herb”), the source of wyrt¹.^[1] Holthausen sets beside it Old Saxon wurtia and Middle High German würze, and de Vries compares Old Norse virtr (“beer-wort”) with the Old English word.^[6][20]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Bald's Leechbook, in a manuscript of the mid-tenth century, several occurrences of wyrt denote the wort of beer, as does the compound māxwyrt "mash-wort".^[13][16] One recipe has a remedy boiled on hwǽtene wyrte, in wort of wheat.^[2]

Semantic evolution

A glossary lists wyrt among the words for drinks, for Latin sandix.^[2] The word lived on as Middle English wort, now English wort in brewing.^[1]

Timeline

• s. x med. – wyrt “wort” in Bald's Leechbook (Royal 12 D. xvii).^[16][13]

Meanings

Noun

1. wort, the infusion of malt used in brewing.^[2][18]

Word family

• mealtwyrt

Descendants

• Middle English wort (→ English wort; Scots wirt)^[1]