Selfheal

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. A common plant with small purple flowers that has been traditionally used in herbal medicine to treat wounds and sore throats
2. a purple-flowered herb commonly employed in traditional remedies for healing wounds and throat ailments
3. a low-growing plant bearing violet blooms historically valued in folk medicine for its purported wound-mending and throat-soothing properties
4. A purple-flowered plant historically employed in folk remedies for wound healing and throat ailments
5. A widespread herbaceous plant with violet blooms traditionally valued in natural medicine for treating injuries and respiratory discomfort

Etymology: Selfheal is a plant name that predates the flower's later reputation as a remedy, and the name itself is a compound with an unusually transparent logic. Its Old English ancestor, "selfhǣlu," joined "self," meaning "one's own" or "by itself," to "hǣlu," meaning "health" or "healing." The plant was thus named for its supposed ability to heal without outside help, the healing coming from its own virtue. Middle English carried the word forward as "selfhele," "selfehale," and "sylfhele," spellings that show the name slowly reshaping as English speakers used it. The compound survived through centuries when herbal lore was a common household resource, long before modern medicine separated plant names from therapeutic claims.

Synonyms: heal oneself