yerba

English

A yerba bush

Etymology

From Spanish yerba. Doublet of herb.

Noun

yerba (usually uncountable, plural yerbas)

1. Ilex paraguariensis, a species of holly native to southern South America; or the dried leaves and twigs of this plant, used to make the caffeine-rich beverage maté.
   • 1839, Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle‎^[1]:

     The storehouses at Talcahuano had been burst open, and great bags of cotton, yerba, and other valuable merchandise were scattered on the shore.

   • 1854, P. L. Simmonds, The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom‎^[2]:

     This was the place at which the leaves and small sprigs of the yerba tree, when brought from the woods, were first scorched--fire being set to the logs of wood within it.

   • 1910, Various, Argentina From A British Point Of View‎^[3]:

     His preparations for breakfast are simple, and he is ready to start out after half an hour spent in imbibing a few mates full of yerba infusion.

Related terms

• yerba mate
• yerba santa

 

Further reading

• Yerba mate on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Ilex paraguariensis on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

Anagrams

• Bayer, Beary, Earby, Yebra, barye, bayer, beary, beray, by ear

Aragonese

Etymology

Inherited from Latin herba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝeɾba/
• Rhymes: -eɾba
• Syllabification: yer‧ba

Noun

yerba f (plural yerbas)

1. grass

Derived terms

• yerba d'a manantía (“common fleabane”)
• yerba d'as cardelinas (“groundsel”)
• yerba luisa (“lemon verbena”)
• yerba negra (“black nightshade”)

 

References

• “hierba”, in Aragonario, diccionario castellano–aragonés (in Spanish)
• Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002) “yerba”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, →ISBN

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin herba.

Noun

yerba f (plural yerbes)

1. grass

Istriot

Alternative forms

• gièrba

Etymology

From Latin herba.

Noun

yerba f

1. grass

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Spanish yerba and hierba.

Noun

yerba

1. grass
2. herb

Spanish

FWOTD – 16 September 2022

Etymology

See hierba.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝeɾba/ [ˈɟ͡ʝeɾ.β̞a]

• IPA^(key): (everywhere but Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʝeɾba/ [ˈɟ͡ʝeɾ.β̞a]
• IPA^(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /ˈʃeɾba/ [ˈʃeɾ.β̞a]
• IPA^(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʒeɾba/ [ˈʒeɾ.β̞a]

• Rhymes: -eɾba
• Syllabification: yer‧ba

Noun

yerba f (plural yerbas)

1. Alternative form of hierba
   • 1605, Miguel de Cervantes, “Capítulo XX”, in El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, Primera parte:

     No es posible, señor mío, sino que estas yerbas dan testimonio de que por aquí cerca debe de estar alguna fuente o arroyo que estas yerbas humedece;

     It cannot be, my lord, but that this grass gives proof that there must be nearby some spring or brook to give it moisture;

2. yerba (Ilex paraguariensis)
3. tarantula

   Synonym: tarántula

Derived terms

• enyerbar
• yerba buena
• yerba del manso
• yerba dulce
• yerba mansa
• yerba mate
• yerba porosa
• yerboso

 

Further reading

• “yerba”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28