Word.ws English Dictionary

burnet

/ˈbɜːnɪt/US/ˈbɚnɪt/

burnet noun: any of the herbs of genus Sanguisorba (syn. Poterium), including salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor), an herb used in salads and herbal teas.

burnet: any of the herbs of genus Sanguisorba (syn. Poterium), including salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor),...
Image: Photo by David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

burnet (usually uncountable, plural burnets)

  1. (usually) Any of the herbs of genus Sanguisorba (syn. Poterium), including salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor), an herb used in salads and herbal teas.
    • ASPARAGUS, cauliflowers, imperial Sileſia, royal and cabbage lettuces, burnet, purſlain, cucumbers, naſturtian flowers, peaſe and beans ſown in October, artichokes, ſcarlet ſtrawberries, and kidney beans.1767, A Lady [Hannah Glasse], The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Eaſy […] , page 326
  2. (usually) Any of several species of moths of the family Zygaenidae, typically having black forewings with red spots.
    • There are a few day-flying exceptions such as hummingbird hawk-moths, silver Ys, cinnabars, scarlet tigers and burnets but, in general, knowledge of moths lags behind that of butterflies.2015, Norman Maclean, A Less Green and Pleasant Land, page 223

Proper noun capitalized: Burnet

IPA/ˈbɜː(ɹ)nɪt/

Burnet (countable and uncountable, plural Burnets)

  1. A surname.
  2. A city, the county seat of Burnet County, Texas, United States.

Forms of burnet

Noun
pluralburnets
Proper noun
pluralBurnets

Origin of burnet

From Middle English burnet, from Old French brunet, brunete (“brunette”). Doublet of brunette.

Words formed from burnet

Phrases with burnet

Questions about burnet

What does burnet mean?
Burnet means any of the herbs of genus Sanguisorba (syn. Poterium), including salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor), an herb used in salads and herbal teas.
What part of speech is burnet?
Burnet can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce burnet?
Burnet is pronounced /ˈbɜːnɪt/ (UK).
What is the plural of burnet?
The plural of burnet is burnets.

Words near burnet in the dictionary

  1. burner phones
  2. burnerless
  3. burners
  4. Burneside
  5. burnest
  6. burnet
  7. Burnet County
  8. burnet moth
  9. burnet moths
  10. burnet rose
  11. burnet roses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: burnet (page history and authors); Burnet (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-burnet.wav.

Cite this entry: “burnet.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/burnet. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.