Etymology

rattlewort

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Today it means: Rattlebox. Full definition →

Middle English *ratelwort ← Old English hrætelwyrt
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromhrætelwyrt“rattlewort”
  2. Middle English · inherited from*ratelwort
  3. English todayrattlewort

From Middle English *ratelwort (attested only as Middle English ratele), from Old English hrætelwyrt (“rattlewort”), equivalent to rattle + wort (“plant, herb”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.