Cresse

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A leafy green plant used mainly in salads and as a garnish; a variety of herbaceous plants known for peppery-flavored leaves; any edible small, crisp plants from the mustard family employed in culinary dishes
2. Referring to small edible greens with a sharp, slightly spicy taste often added to dishes for flavor and decoration; types of herb plants cultivated for their fresh leaves; plants commonly grown and consumed as salad components or garnishing elements
3. Denoting a group of plants prized for their pungent leaves used in cooking; varieties including watercress and garden cress known for peppery leaves; fresh, crisp green plants used to enhance salads and plates visually and flavor-wise

Etymology: Cress has been in English since Old English, when it appeared as "cerse" or "cresse," and its roots are Germanic, related to Dutch "kers" and German "Kresse." The plant itself is old and familiar: garden cress, a fast-growing herb whose sharp, peppery leaves were eaten long before anyone wrote them down in English. Its name is one of those quiet survivors that has kept the same basic shape for over a thousand years. The surprising link is that the word is connected to "crush" and to "crisp" only loosely, if at all. The likeliest picture is that cress is a native Germanic word meaning something like "sharp-tasting" or "biting," which fits the plant's pungent flavor, but the exact root is uncertain and scholars do not agree on its ancestry. Where the story is solid is the English record and its Germanic cousins, not any firm claim about an older root.

Synonyms: cress, watercress, garden cress, peppergrass, nasturtium