Cress
/krɛs/noun
A small salad herb or any of several related edible plants with peppery leaves.
Did you know?Cress is one of those humble food words whose history survives in everyday speech, showing how plants, cooking, and language were preserved long before modern dictionaries.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*krus- / *kras-
“A plant with a crisp, biting quality; the exact ancestral form is uncertain but linked to Germanic plant names.”
Old English
OE
cresse
“Cress; a peppery herb eaten as food.”
Middle English
ME
cresse
“Cress, especially watercress and similar edible herbs.”
Modern English
English
cress
“Any of several small edible plants, especially watercress and garden cress.”