motherwort

From Middle English moderwort; equivalent to mother +‎ wort.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmʌðəwəːt/

motherwort (plural motherworts)

1. Any of several perennial plants of the genus Leonurus, especially Leonurus cardiaca, used in traditional medicine to help with childbirth or treat uterine disorders. [from 13th c.]
   • 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society 2007, p. 195:

     Besides, it makes women joyful and mothers of children and settles their wombs as they should be; therefore we call it Motherwort.

   • 1827, Lydia Sigourney, Poems, The Comet of 1825, page 151:

     —Miss Luna, muffling up her head,
     Went with the ague, straight to bed,
     Put out her lamp, and bade them tell
     She could not hear her mistress' bell,
     Begg'd them with motherwort to dose her,
     And drew her cloudy night-cap closer.—

2. Artemisia vulgaris.

• motherwort at OneLook Dictionary Search
• motherwort in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• motherwort on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Leonurus on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Leonurus on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons