moonwort

[ moon-wurt, -wawrt ]

/ ˈmunˌwɜrt, -ˌwɔrt /

noun

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

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a person who is especially competent to pass critical judgments in an art, particularly one of the fine arts, or in matters of taste.

a frequent or habitual visitor to a place.

a lazy person who stays in bed long after the usual time for arising.

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Origin of moonwort

First recorded in 1570–80; moon + wort²

Words nearby moonwort

moonshot, moonstone, moonstruck, moonwalk, moonward, moonwort, moony, moor, moor grass, moorage, moorbird

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for moonwort

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 (def. 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