Herbs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Plants utilized in cooking for flavor enhancement, medicinal uses, or aromatic purposes
2. Non-woody green plants cherished for their tastes, scents, or healing attributes in various culinary practices
3. Plants valued for their culinary flavoring, medicinal qualities, or fragrance, typically having soft, leafy stems rather than woody trunks

Etymology: The plural "herbs" is simply the form of "herb" used for more than one plant, so its story is the story of "herb" itself. Middle English took the word from Old French "erbe," which descended from Latin "herba," meaning grass or green plant. The spelling was later altered to add an "h" to match the Latin original, even though that "h" was not pronounced. Many speakers still leave it silent, and the silent "h" in "herb" was only fully accepted in the 19th century, which explains why some people say "erb" and others say "herb." Because "herb" shares its origin with "yerba," the word is a doublet, the two forms having come into English and Spanish from the same Latin source by different routes. Spanish kept the "y," which likely preserves the older pronunciation, while English kept a form closer to the Old French spelling.

Synonyms: plants, vegetation, flora