Etymology

horseheal

H4O1R1S1E1H4E1A1L1

Today it means: The plant elecampane. Full definition →

Middle English horshelne ← Old English horselene
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromhorselene
  2. Middle English · inherited fromhorshelne
  3. English todayhorseheal

From Middle English horshelne, from Old English horselene, a compound of hors (“horse”) and elene (“elecampane”). The compound was later reinterpreted as being formed of horse + heal, as it was supposed to cure diseases of horses.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.