Etymology

betony

B3E1T1O1N1Y4

Today it means: Any plant of the genus Stachys. Full definition →

Middle English betayny ← Medieval Latin betōnia ← Latin betōnica
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The story

  1. Latin · derived frombetōnica
  2. Medieval Latin · derived frombetōnia
  3. Middle English · inherited frombetayny
  4. English todaybetony

From Middle English betayny, betanie, from Medieval Latin betōnia (possibly through Old French), from Latin betōnica or ve(t)tōnica, from Vettones, a people in Lusitania. Compare French bétoine.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.