Word.ws English Dictionary

motherwort

UK/ˈmʌðəwəːt/

motherwort noun: any of several perennial plants of the genus Leonurus, especially Leonurus cardiaca, used in traditional medicine to help with childbirth or treat uterine disorders.

Noun

motherwort (plural motherworts)

  1. Any of several perennial plants of the genus Leonurus, especially Leonurus cardiaca, used in traditional medicine to help with childbirth or treat uterine disorders.
    • Besides, it makes women joyful and mothers of children and settles their wombs as they should be; therefore we call it Motherwort.1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society, published 2007, page 195
    • —Miss Luna, muffling up her head,
      Went with the ague, straight to bed,
      Put out her lamp, and bade them tell
      She could not hear her mistress' bell,
      Begg'd them with motherwort to dose her,
      And drew her cloudy night-cap closer.—1827, Lydia Sigourney, Poems, The Comet of 1825, page 151
  2. common wormwood, mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris).

motherwort meaning in Malay

motherwort in Malay

plant of the genus Leonurus
kacangma

Forms of motherwort

pluralmotherworts

Origin of motherwort

From Middle English moderwort; equivalent to mother + wort. Compare Chinese 益母草 (yìmǔcǎo)

Words formed from motherwort

Questions about motherwort

What does motherwort mean?
Motherwort means any of several perennial plants of the genus Leonurus, especially Leonurus cardiaca, used in traditional medicine to help with childbirth or treat uterine disorders.
What is motherwort in Malay?
Motherwort in Malay is kacangma. See Motherwort meaning in Malay.
What part of speech is motherwort?
Motherwort is a noun.
How do you pronounce motherwort?
Motherwort is pronounced /ˈmʌðəwəːt/ (UK).
What is the plural of motherwort?
The plural of motherwort is motherworts.

Words near motherwort in the dictionary

  1. Motherwell
  2. Motherwell rules
  3. motherwise
  4. motherworld
  5. motherworlds
  6. motherwort
  7. motherworts
  8. mothery
  9. mothicide
  10. mothicides
  11. mothier

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: motherwort (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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