ragwort

English

Etymology

From rag (“referring to the ragged leaves”) +‎ wort.

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɹæɡwəːt/
    • Audio (Southern England)(file)

Noun

ragwort (countable and uncountable, plural ragworts)

  1. Any of a number of wild flowering plants with yellow flowers in the family Asteraceae, mostly belonging to Senecio and related genera.
    • 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society, published 2007, page 237:
      Ragwort is under the command of dame Venus, and cleanses, digests and discusses.
    • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 157:
      Sea-poppies and ragwort were plants of ill-fame, too.
    • 1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 267:
      As we all know, witches ride through the air on a broom, but sometimes their means of locomotion was a bulrush, a branch of thorn, mullein stalks, cornstalk, or ragweed, called fairies' horse in Ireland.

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