The story
- Ancient Greek · derived fromἑλλέβορος
- Medieval Latin · derived fromeleborus
- Old French · derived fromellebre
- Middle English · inherited fromellebore
- English todayhellebore
From Middle English ellebore, from Old French ellebre, elebore, from Medieval Latin eleborus, via Latin from Ancient Greek ἑλλέβορος (helléboros), possibly from ἄλκη (álkē, “elk [moose]”) βιβρώσκω (bibrṓskō, “to eat”). The initial h was restored in English to reflect the Ancient Greek etymology.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.