Figwort
/ˈfɪɡ.wɜːrt/noun
Any of several plants of the genus Scrophularia, traditionally used in herbal medicine.
Did you know?Figwort was associated with the medieval Doctrine of Signatures, the belief that a plant’s shape revealed the illness it was meant to cure.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dʰeigʷ-
“A reconstructed root associated with the fig and fig-like fruit tradition.”
Classical Latin
Latin
fīcus
“Fig tree or fig.”
Old French
Old French
figue
“Fig; the source of the English fruit name.”
Old English
Old English
wyrt
“Plant, herb, or medicinal plant.”
Middle English
English
figge
“Fig; borrowed through French from Latin.”
Modern English
English
figwort
“Literally “fig herb,” referring to Scrophularia and its fig-like root tubers.”