moonwort

English

Botrychium lunaria

Lunaria annua

Etymology

From moon +‎ wort.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmuːnwəːt/

Noun

moonwort (plural moonworts)

1. A small fern, Botrychium lunaria (lesser moonwort); later, any member of the genus. [from 15th c.]
   • 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society, published 2007, page 194:

     Moonwort is an herb which they say will open locks, and unshoe such horses as tread upon it.

2. (now US, UK regional) Lunaria annua (greater moonwort); also known as honesty and annual honesty. [from 16th c.]

Translations

Botrychium lunaria

• Finnish: ketonoidanlukko (fi)
• Hungarian: holdruta (hu)
• Icelandic: tungljurt (is) f
• Polish: podejźrzon (pl) m
• Romanian: limba-cucului (ro) f
• Welsh: lloer-redyn f pl

Lunaria annua

• Finnish: kesäkuuruoho (fi)
• Hungarian: kerti holdviola (hu)

References

• Botrychium on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “moonwort”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Moortown