wort

[ wurt, wawrt ]

/ wɜrt, wɔrt /

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noun

the unfermented or fermenting infusion of malt that after fermentation becomes beer or mash.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of wort

before 1000; Middle English; Old English wyrt; cognate with German Würze spice; akin to wort²

Words nearby wort

worshipful, worship the ground someone walks on, worst, worst-case, worsted, wort, worth, worthful, worthiness, Worthing, Worthington

Other definitions for wort (2 of 2)

wort²

[ wurt, wawrt ]

/ wɜrt, wɔrt /

noun

a plant, herb, or vegetable (now usually used only in combination): figwort.

Origin of wort

before 900; Middle English; Old English wyrt root, plant; cognate with Old High German wurz,Old Norse urt herb, Gothic waurts root; akin to root¹, Old Norse rōt,Latin rādīx,Greek rhíza

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use wort in a sentence

It is made, as the label narrates “with traditional mash hopping and without wort boiling.”
Wine Snobs, There’s a Beer for You|Jordan Salcito|April 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is unpasteurized and unfiltered, and the wort reaches the boiling point but never boils.
Wine Snobs, There’s a Beer for You|Jordan Salcito|April 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Where Carroll is “steady,” White tends to be “the worry-wort.”
Edmund White: Sex, Success, and Survival|Tim Teeman|February 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Boil them with the wort, two hours, from the time it begins to boil.
A Poetical Cook-Book|Maria J. Moss

What avails the dram of brandy while it swims chemically united with its barrel of wort?
Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources|James Wood
They sat down on the sour stony land among the rag-wort and teazles and feverfew.
Plashers Mead|Compton Mackenzie
The plump-looking navel-wort, possibly introduced by him, may be seen peeping from crevices in the walls.
Yorkshire Oddities, Incidents and Strange Events|S. Baring-Gould
It is known as the Glass-wort, being full of a substance useful in making glass.
On the Seashore|R. Cadwallader Smith

British Dictionary definitions for wort

wort

/ (wɜːt) /

noun

(in combination) any of various unrelated plants, esp ones formerly used to cure diseasesliverwort; spleenwort

the sweet liquid obtained from the soaked mixture of warm water and ground malt, used to make a malt liquor

Word Origin for wort

Old English wyrt root, related to Old High German warz, Gothic waurts root

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