Gypsyworts

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A genus of flowering plants in the mint family, known for their creeping habit and small, tubular flowers often found in wet habitats
2. Herbaceous plants belonging to a group characterized by spreading stems and typically inhabiting marshy or damp environments with aromatic leaves
3. Water-loving plants that spread along the ground, producing clusters of delicate flowers and commonly growing in wetlands or alongside streams

Etymology: Gypsywort is a plant of wet ground, a relative of the mints, whose name comes from the belief that Romani people stained their skin with its juice. The name is "gypsy" joined to "wort," the Old English word for a plant or herb, so the whole thing reads as "gypsy plant." The plant is the one the word refers to, and "gypsyworts" is simply its plural, used when more than one plant is meant. Since the second element is the ordinary herb-word "wort," the name rests entirely on the first part, which is where the story lies.