herb

See also: Herb, hərb, and herb.

English

Etymology

From Middle English erbe, borrowed from Old French erbe (French herbe), from Latin herba. Initial h was restored to the spelling in the 15th century on the basis on Latin, but it remained mute until the 19th century and still is for many speakers.

Pronunciation

  • (UK, General Australian, General New Zealand) enPR: hû(r)b, IPA(key): /hɜːb/
    • Audio (RP)(file)
  • (US, Canada) enPR: (h)ûrb, IPA(key): /(h)ɝb/
    • US 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 consistent in their choice, but the choice does not appear to be correlated with any regional, socioeconomic, or educational distinctions. Some UK dialects may also follow the h-dropping pronunciation where they drop all initial "h"s.
    • Audio (US) [with silent <h>](file)
    • Audio (US) [with <h> pronounced as /h/](file)
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)b

Noun

herb (plural herbs)

  1. Any green, leafy plant, or parts thereof, used to flavour or season food.
  2. Plant whose roots, leaves or seeds, etc. are used in medicine.
    If any medicinal herbs used by witches were supposedly evil, then how come people from at least the past benefited from the healing properties of such herbs?
  3. (slang, euphemistic) Marijuana.
  4. (botany) A plant whose stem is not woody and does not persist beyond each growing season
  5. (obsolete) Grass; herbage.
    • Milton
      flocks grazing the tender herb

Synonyms

Hyponyms

  • See also Thesaurus:seasoning

Translations

Anagrams

German

Etymology

From Middle High German hare, from Old High German *haro, from Proto-Germanic *harwaz.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [hɛɐ̯p]
  • Audio(file)

Adjective

herb (comparative herber, superlative am herbsten)

  1. tart, bitter
  2. harsh

Declension

Comparative forms of herb
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative er ist herber sie ist herber es ist herber sie sind herber
strong declension
(without article)		 nominative herberer herbere herberes herbere
genitive herberen herberer herberen herberer
dative herberem herberer herberem herberen
accusative herberen herbere herberes herbere
weak declension
(with definite article)		 nominative der herbere die herbere das herbere die herberen
genitive des herberen der herberen des herberen der herberen
dative dem herberen der herberen dem herberen den herberen
accusative den herberen die herbere das herbere die herberen
mixed declension
(with indefinite article)		 nominative ein herberer eine herbere ein herberes (keine) herberen
genitive eines herberen einer herberen eines herberen (keiner) herberen
dative einem herberen einer herberen einem herberen (keinen) herberen
accusative einen herberen eine herbere ein herberes (keine) herberen

Further reading

  • herb in Duden online

Polish

Etymology

From Middle High German erbe (“heritage”). Compare German Erbe.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /xɛrp/
  • Audio(file)

Noun

herb m inan

  1. (heraldry) coat of arms

Declension

Descendants

Zazaki

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /herb/

Noun

herb

  1. (dated) war

Synonyms

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