Etymology

liverwort

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Today it means: A type of bryophyte with a leafy stem or leafless thallus characterized by a dominant gametophyte stage and a lack of stomata on the sporophyte stage of the life cycle. Full definition →

Middle English lyverwort ← Old English liferwyrt
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromliferwyrt
  2. Middle English · inherited fromlyverwort
  3. English todayliverwort

From Middle English lyverwort, liverwort, from Old English liferwyrt, equivalent to liver + wort, from the belief that some species looked like livers and were useful for treating the liver medicinally.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.