herb

See also: Herb and herb.

English

Etymology

From Middle English herbe, erbe, from Old French erbe (French herbe), from Latin herba. Initial h was restored to the spelling in the 15th century on the basis of Latin, but it remained mute until the 19th century and still is for many speakers. Doublet of yerba.

Pronunciation

• (UK, General Australian, New Zealand) enPR: hû(r)b, IPA^(key): /hɜːb/

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

• (US, Canada) enPR: (h)ûrb, IPA^(key): /(h)ɝb/

  • Audio (US, with silent ⟨h⟩):

    (file)

  • Audio (US, with ⟨h⟩ pronounced as /h/):

    (file)

• North American pronunciation of the word varies; some speakers include the /h/ sound and others omit it, with the /h/-less pronunciation being the more common. Individual speakers are usually consistent in their choice, but the choice does not appear to be correlated with any regional, socioeconomic, or educational distinctions.
• Outside of North America, the /h/-less pronunciation is restricted to speakers who have a general tendency to "drop the h" in all words.
• The /h/-less pronunciation is the older; the pronunciation with /h/ is a later spelling pronunciation.
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)b
• Homophone: Herb (for the pronunciation /hɜː(ɹ)b/)

Noun

herb (countable and uncountable, plural herbs)

1. (countable) Any green, leafy plant, or parts thereof, used to flavour or season food.
2. (countable) A plant whose roots, leaves or seeds, etc. are used in medicine.

   If any medicinal herbs used by witches were supposedly evil, then how come people from at least the past benefited from the healing properties of such herbs?

   • 1973, Joe C. Huang, “The Formative Years - The Village”, in Heroes and Villains in Communist China: The Contemporary Chinese Novel as a Reflection of Life‎^[1], New York: Pica Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 33:

     For twenty-five years he has done all sorts of odd jobs: digging ginseng (a herb) in the Long White Mountains, fishing in the Black River, and washing gold dust at Hailanpao. Without this education, he would never have become an undaunted revolutionary.

3. (uncountable, slang) Cannabis.

   Synonyms: grass, weed; see also Thesaurus:marijuana

   • 1995, Harmony Korine, Kids, spoken by Casper:

     You think he's got any herb?

4. (countable, botany) A plant whose stem is not woody and does not persist beyond each growing season
5. (uncountable, obsolete) Grass; herbage.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     flocks grazing the tender herb

6. (countable, US, slang) (always with pronounced /h/) A lame or uncool person.
   • 2008, Maryann Dickar, Corridor Cultures: Mapping Student Resistance at an Urban School, page 88:

     George (AO) describes the tie between fighting and respect: 'Cause some people could come up to you and say, “Ah, he's a herb, he can't fight. He's nothing.”

Hyponyms

• See also Thesaurus:seasoning

Derived terms

• African dream herb
• cowherb
• death's herb
• devil's herb
• fuller's herb
• herbarian
• herb bennet
• herb box
• herb butter
• herb Christopher
• herbed
• herb Gerard
• herbiferous
• herbish
• herbist
• herb knife
• herbland
• herbless
• herblike
• herblore
• herbmaster
• herbmistress
• herb of grace
• herb of repentance
• herb of the cross
• herbology
• herbous
• herb-paris
• herb paris
• herb Peter
• herb Robert
• herb tea
• herb trinity
• herb twopence
• herbwoman
• megaherb
• multiherb
• paleoherb
• potherb
• rice paddy herb
• superherb
• willowherb

 

Related terms

• arbour
• herbaceous
• herbage
• herbal
• herbarium
• herbicidal
• herbicide
• herbivore
• herbivorous
• herbed up
• herblet
• pseudoherb

Translations

plant used to flavour food

• Armenian: համեմունք (hy) (hamemunkʻ)
• Bulgarian: зелена подправка f (zelena podpravka)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: herba (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 香草 (hoeng¹ cou²)

  Mandarin: 香草 (zh) (xiāngcǎo)

• Danish: krydderurt (da) c (for food), urt (da) c
• Dutch: keukenkruid n
• Emilian: please add this translation if you can
• Esperanto: herbo (eo), ^{(please verify)} aromherbo
• Estonian: maitsetaim
• Faroese: urt f
• Finnish: yrtti (fi)
• French: herbe aromatique f
• Friulian: please add this translation if you can
• Galician: herba (gl) f
• Georgian: ბალახი (ka) (balaxi), მცენარე (ka) (mcenare)
• German: Küchenkraut (de) n

  Alemannic German: Chruut n

• Greek: μυρωδικό (el) n (myrodikó)

  Ancient: ἄρωμα n (árōma)

• Haitian Creole: zèb
• Hebrew: יֶרֶק (he) (yereq), עֵשֶׂב (he)
• Hungarian: fűszernövény (hu)
• Icelandic: kryddjurt (is)
• Ido: herbo (io)
• Irish: luibh (ga) f
• Italian: erba aromatica f, erba (it) f
• Japanese: 香草 (ja) (こうそう, kōsō), ハーブ (ja) (hābu)
• Khmer: ជីរ (km) (cii)
• Korean: 향초(香草) (hyangcho)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: herba (la)
• Latvian: garšaugs
• Ligurian: erba f
• Limburgish: keukekroed
• Lingala: litíti
• Lombard: erba (lmo) f
• Low German: Kruut n
• Macedonian: билка f (bilka)
• Malay: herba (ms)
• Maori: raukakara
• Marathi: शाक (śāk), ओषधी (oṣdhī), हरितक (haritak), वनस्पति (vanaspati), तृणादि (tŕṇādi)
• Middle English: herbe
• Mongolian: навч шилбэ (navč šilbe)
• Norman: hèrbe f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: urt (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: urt f

• Occitan: èrba (oc) f
• Old English: wyrt f
• Persian: گیاه (fa) (giyâh), اسپرم (fa) (esparam)
• Piedmontese: erba f
• Polabian: krüd m
• Polish: zioło (pl) n
• Portuguese: erva (pt) f
• Quechua: qiwa
• Romagnol: erba f
• Romanian: verdețuri n pl
• Russian: трава́ (ru) f (travá), тра́вы (ru) f pl (trávy) (often plural), расте́ние (ru) n (rasténije)
• Scots: yerb
• Scottish Gaelic: luibh m or f, lus m
• Slovak: bylín (sk)
• Slovene: zelišče (sl) n, začimba (sl) f
• Spanish: hierba culinaria f
• Swedish: ört (sv)
• Tagalog: damong-gamot
• Thai: สมุนไพร (th) (sà-mǔn-prai)
• Turkish: ot (tr)
• Vietnamese: cỏ (vi), cây thảo
• Volapük: keb (vo)
• Walloon: yerbêye (wa) f
• Welsh: perlysieuyn (cy) m, llysieuyn pêr m, llysieuyn crochan m

plant used in medicine

• Arabic: عُشْبَة طِبِّيَّة f (ʕušba ṭibbiyya)
• Bulgarian: билка (bg) f (bilka)
• Catalan: herba (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 草藥／草药 (zh) (cǎoyào)

• Czech: bylina (cs) f
• Danish: lægeurt c
• Dutch: geneeskruid (nl) n
• Esperanto: drogherbo
• Finnish: yrtti (fi), rohto (fi)
• French: herbe médicinale f
• Galician: herba (gl) f
• Georgian: ბალახი (ka) (balaxi), მცენარე (ka) (mcenare)
• German: Heilkraut (de) n
• Greek: βότανο (el) n (vótano)

  Ancient: πόα f (póa)

• Hindi: औषध (hi) m (auṣadh)
• Hungarian: gyógynövény (hu), gyógyfű (hu)
• Ido: herboro (io)
• Indonesian: herba (id)
• Italian: erba medicinale f
• Japanese: 薬草 (ja) (やくそう, yakusō)
• Kannada: ಮೂಲಿಕೆ (mūlike)
• Korean: 약초(藥草) (ko) (yakcho)
• Malay: herba (ms)
• Malayalam: ഓഷധി (ml) (ōṣadhi)
• Middle English: herbe, wort
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: urt (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: urt f

• Odia: ଔଷଧ (aushadha)
• Old English: wyrt f, lǣċewyrt f
• Persian: گیاه دارویی (giyâh-e dâruyi), اسپرم (fa) (esparam)
• Polish: zioło (pl) n, zioło lecznicze n
• Portuguese: erva medicinal f
• Russian: (лечебная) трава́ (ru) f (travá), (лечебные) тра́вы (ru) f pl (trávy) (often plural), (лечебное) расте́ние (ru) n (rasténije)
• Scottish Gaelic: luibh m or f, lus m
• Spanish: planta medicinal (es)
• Swedish: ört (sv)
• Tamil: மூலிகை (ta) (mūlikai)
• Telugu: మూలిక (te) ? (mūlika)
• Thai: สมุนไพร (th) (sà-mǔn-prai)
• Turkish: ot (tr), şifalı ot
• Vietnamese: dược thảo
• Volapük: sanakeb
• Welsh: llysieuyn llesol m, llysieuyn meddyginiaethol m

slang: marijuana

• Bulgarian: трева (bg) f (treva)
• Finnish: ruoho (fi)
• French: herbe (fr) f
• Galician: herba (gl) f
• Georgian: პლანი (ṗlani)
• German: Kraut (de) n
• Greek: χόρτο (el) n (chórto)
• Hungarian: fű (hu)
• Italian: erba (it) f
• Norwegian: gress (no) n
• Polish: zioło (pl) n
• Portuguese: erva (pt) f
• Russian: тра́вка (ru) f (trávka), трава́ (ru) f (travá)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: тра́ва f

  Roman: tráva (sh) f

• Spanish: hierba (es) f
• Swedish: gräs (sv)
• Turkish: ot (tr)

Anagrams

• Behr, Hebr., breh, hreb

German

Etymology

From Middle High German hare, here (inflected harwe, herwe), from Old High German *haro, from Proto-West Germanic *haru.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɛrp/, [hɛɐ̯p], [hɛʁp]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

Adjective

herb (strong nominative masculine singular herber, comparative herber, superlative am herbsten)

1. (of food and drink, e.g. beer) slightly bitter or sharp to the taste, often in a pleasant way; tart (but not in the sense of “sour”)
2. (figurative, chiefly of events or deeds) harsh; hard

Declension

Positive forms of herb

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist herb	sie ist herb	es ist herb	sie sind herb
strong declension (without article)	nominative	herber	herbe	herbes	herbe
	genitive	herben	herber	herben	herber
	dative	herbem	herber	herbem	herben
	accusative	herben	herbe	herbes	herbe
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der herbe	die herbe	das herbe	die herben
	genitive	des herben	der herben	des herben	der herben
	dative	dem herben	der herben	dem herben	den herben
	accusative	den herben	die herbe	das herbe	die herben
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein herber	eine herbe	ein herbes	(keine) herben
	genitive	eines herben	einer herben	eines herben	(keiner) herben
	dative	einem herben	einer herben	einem herben	(keinen) herben
	accusative	einen herben	eine herbe	ein herbes	(keine) herben

Comparative forms of herb

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist herber	sie ist herber	es ist herber	sie sind herber
strong declension (without article)	nominative	herberer	herbere	herberes	herbere
	genitive	herberen	herberer	herberen	herberer
	dative	herberem	herberer	herberem	herberen
	accusative	herberen	herbere	herberes	herbere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der herbere	die herbere	das herbere	die herberen
	genitive	des herberen	der herberen	des herberen	der herberen
	dative	dem herberen	der herberen	dem herberen	den herberen
	accusative	den herberen	die herbere	das herbere	die herberen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein herberer	eine herbere	ein herberes	(keine) herberen
	genitive	eines herberen	einer herberen	eines herberen	(keiner) herberen
	dative	einem herberen	einer herberen	einem herberen	(keinen) herberen
	accusative	einen herberen	eine herbere	ein herberes	(keine) herberen

Superlative forms of herb

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am herbsten	sie ist am herbsten	es ist am herbsten	sie sind am herbsten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	herbster	herbste	herbstes	herbste
	genitive	herbsten	herbster	herbsten	herbster
	dative	herbstem	herbster	herbstem	herbsten
	accusative	herbsten	herbste	herbstes	herbste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der herbste	die herbste	das herbste	die herbsten
	genitive	des herbsten	der herbsten	des herbsten	der herbsten
	dative	dem herbsten	der herbsten	dem herbsten	den herbsten
	accusative	den herbsten	die herbste	das herbste	die herbsten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein herbster	eine herbste	ein herbstes	(keine) herbsten
	genitive	eines herbsten	einer herbsten	eines herbsten	(keiner) herbsten
	dative	einem herbsten	einer herbsten	einem herbsten	(keinen) herbsten
	accusative	einen herbsten	eine herbste	ein herbstes	(keine) herbsten

Derived terms

• Herbheit

Further reading

• “herb” in Duden online
• “herb” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Czech erb, herb, from Middle High German erbe (“heritage”), from Old High German erbi, from Proto-West Germanic *arbī, from Proto-Germanic *arbiją, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃orbʰ-yo-m, from the root *h₃erbʰ- (“to change allegiance, status, ownership”). Compare German Erbe.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxɛrp/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛrp
• Syllabification: herb

Noun

herb m inan

1. (heraldry) coat of arms
2. (heraldry) armigerous clan; cf. Polish heraldry

Declension

Declension of herb

	singular	plural
nominative	herb	herby
genitive	herbu	herbów
dative	herbowi	herbom
accusative	herb	herby
instrumental	herbem	herbami
locative	herbie	herbach
vocative	herbie	herby

Derived terms

adjectives

• herbowny
• herbowy

 

nouns

• herbarz
• herbowiec
• herbownik

 

verb

• herbować impf

 

Descendants

• → Russian: герб (gerb), гербъ (gerb) — Pre-reform orthography (1918)
  • → Azerbaijani: gerb
  • → Kildin Sami: ге̄ррп (gierrp)
  • → Latvian: ģerbonis
  • → Macedonian: грб (grb)
  • → Uzbek: gerb
• → Yiddish: הערב (herb)

Further reading

• herb in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• herb in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Polish herb.

Noun

herb n (plural herburi)

1. (heraldry, dated) coat of arms

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	herb	herbul		herburi	herburile
genitive-dative	herb	herbului		herburi	herburilor
vocative	herbule			herburilor

References

• herb in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Zazaki

Alternative forms

• herf

Etymology

From Arabic حَرْب (ḥarb, “war”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /herb/

Noun

herb

1. (dated) war

Synonyms

• lec
• lej