Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

vervain

/ˈvɚveɪn/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.79 in modern English

Syllables: ver-vain
IPA: /ˈvɚveɪn/

13

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any herbaceous plant in the genus Verbena especially if used for medicinal purposes, primarily Verbena officinalis, common in Europe and formerly held to have medicinal properties.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"The Yarrow, where-with-all he stops the wound-made gore: The healing Tutsan then, and Plantan for a sore. And hard by them againe he holy Vervaine finds, Which he about his head that hath the Megrim binds."
"The candlesticks were surrounded by wreaths of vervain[.]"
"Tobacco and the plant valerian are also considered to be anaphrodisiac in their effects, diminishing sexual inclination. Also vinegar, dried coriander, potassium bromide, cocaine, vervain, acid drinks, lemonade."
"There were bunches of wild garlic to keep out evil spirits, foxgloves for healing spells and hemlock and vervain for darker magic."

Etymology

From Middle English verveyne, from Old French verveine, from Latin verbēna. Doublet of verbena.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: verveyne, verveine, verbēna

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈvɚveɪn/
British English: /ˈvɜːveɪn/

Usage

Inflected Forms

vervains (plural) vervaine (alternative, obsolete) vervein (alternative, obsolete) verveine (alternative, obsolete)

Phrases

common vervain holy vervain blue vervain white vervain nettle-leaved vervain hoary vervain orubian bastard vervain orubian vervain

Synonyms

verbena

Questions

How do you pronounce vervain?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈvɚveɪn/.
What does vervain mean?: Any herbaceous plant in the genus Verbena especially if used for medicinal purposes, primarily Verbena officinalis, common in Europe and formerly held to have medicinal properties.
Where does vervain come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce vervain

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