comfrey

American

[kuhm-free] / ˈkʌm fri /

noun

any coarse Eurasian plant belonging to the genus Symphytum, of the borage family, as the widely cultivated S. officinale, having hairy, lance-shaped leaves and drooping clusters of small, white, rose-colored, or purplish flowers.

comfrey British

/ ˈkʌmfrɪ /

noun

any hairy Eurasian boraginaceous plant of the genus Symphytum, having blue, purplish-pink, or white flowers

"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

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

comfreys

plural

Etymology

Origin of comfrey

1275–1325; Middle English cumfirie, conferye < Anglo-French cumfirie, Old French confire < Medieval Latin *confervia for Latin conferva conferva

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A chemical analysis of liquid comfrey fertilizer showed that it contained similar amounts of nutrients to those found in the popular blue soluble fertilizers.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 4, 2023

Applying comfrey to the skin however is perfectly safe.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 4, 2023

Another interesting trait of comfrey is that in addition to producing vitamin C and all of the other plant based vitamins, it is the only land-based plant that produces vitamin B-12.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 4, 2023

In addition, liquid comfrey has other growth promoting factors produced by bacteria that are not present in commercial fertilizers.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 4, 2023

Pausing among the comfrey and ground elder, they stared at each other, seeking reassurance.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023