herb

English Online Dictionary. What means herb‎? What does herb mean?

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/
• (US, Canada) enPR: (h)ûrb, IPA^(key): /(h)ɝb/
• 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.
3. (uncountable, slang) Cannabis.

   Synonyms: grass, weed; see also Thesaurus:marijuana
4. (countable, botany) A plant whose stem is not woody and does not persist beyond each growing season
5. (uncountable, obsolete) Grass; herbage.
6. (countable, US, slang) (always with pronounced /h/) A lame or uncool person.

Hyponyms

• See also Thesaurus:seasoning

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

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]

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

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/
• Rhymes: -ɛrp
• Syllabification: herb

Noun

herb m inan

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

Declension

Derived terms

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

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