moonwort
Americannoun
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any fern of the genus Botrychium, especially B. lunaria, a rare fern having fronds with crescent-shaped leaflets.
noun
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Also called (US): grape fern. any of various ferns of the genus Botrychium, esp B. lunaria, which has crescent-shaped leaflets
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another name for honesty
Etymology
Origin of moonwort
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.
Thin, green marsh fern circled lakes alongside moonwort, rattlesnake fern and horsetail.
From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2016
One could easily find a rationalistic explanation of this sentiment, of course, but it is akin to a superstition entertained in some parts that wherever the moonwort flourishes the owner of the garden is honest.
From Storyology Essays in Folk-Lore, Sea-Lore, and Plant-Lore by Taylor, Benjamin
Gerard says of the herb true-love or moonwort, p.
From Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales A Sequel to the Nursery Rhymes of England by Halliwell-Phillipps, J. O. (James Orchard)
This power of the moonwort is said to be still believed in in Normandy, and a similar virtue was also ascribed to the vervain and the mandrake, both associated with rue.
From Storyology Essays in Folk-Lore, Sea-Lore, and Plant-Lore by Taylor, Benjamin
Culpeper, the herbalist, to illustrate the powers of the plant moonwort, tells of a wonderful incident that occurred to Lord Essex's horse, presumably when his army was here in 1644.
From Devon, Its Moorlands, Streams and Coasts by Northcote, Rosalind
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
