moonwort

[moon-wurt, -wawrt] /ˈmunˌwɜrt, -ˌwɔrt/

Word Origin

noun

any fern of the genus Botrychium, especially B. lunaria, a rare fern having fronds with crescent-shaped leaflets.

honesty (def 4).

Origin of moonwort

1570-1580

First recorded in 1570-80; moon + wort²

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018.
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Examples from the Web for moonwort

Historical Examples

I have the wild rosehip, and the flat shield of the moonwort, and a pea-pod, and more whose names I know not.

The Dove in the Eagle's Nest Charlotte M. Yonge
moonwort has (or perhaps had) a miraculous effect on iron, with power to open locks or unshoe horses.

Devon, Its Moorlands, Streams and Coasts
Rosalind Northcote

British Dictionary definitions for moonwort

moonwort

/ˈmuːnˌwɜːt/

noun

Also called (US) grape fern. any of various ferns of the genus Botrychium, esp B. lunaria, which has crescent-shaped leaflets

another name for honesty (sense 4)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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