Etymology

henbit

H4E1N1B3I1T1

Today it means: An annual herb, of species Lamium amplexicaule, with pink or purple flowers and deeply crenate leaves. Full definition →

Dutch hoenderbeet ← Medieval Latin Morsus gallinae
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The story

  1. Medieval Latin · derived fromMorsus gallinae
  2. Dutch · calque ofhoenderbeet
  3. English todayhenbit

Calque of Dutch hoenderbeet. By surface analysis, hen + bit (past participle of bite; bitten). First attested in 1578. Cognate with Middle Low German hennebit and German Hühnerbiss; all likely derived from Medieval Latin Morsus gallinae, the ancestor of Italian mordigallina, French morgeline and obsolete English margeline. See also chickweed.

Words from the same roots

Medieval LatinMorsus gallinae all →

margeline

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.