setterwort
(ˈsɛtəwɜːt)
Also 6 syter wurt.
[Perh. adopted from MLG.; Diefenbach s.v. Elleborum gives a great variety of synonymous forms in MHG. and MLG. such as sitro, sutir-, sittir-, sitti-, siter-, sutten-, -sutwurz, -wort (f. HG. wurz, LG. wort wort1). The first element is of unknown origin; cf. ME. (14th c.) satur(gresse) settergrass.]
The plant Bear's-foot or Fetid Hellebore, Helleborus fœtidus; also the Green Hellebore, H. viridis.
| 1551 Turner Herbal i. L vj, The herbe syter wurte. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 124 b, The hearbe called blacke Ellebor, of some Bearfoot, and others Setterwort. 1597 [see settergrass]. c 1710 Petiver Cat. Ray's Eng. Herbal Tab. 42 Setterwort. Greenish. 1778 G. White Selborne, Let. to Barrington 3 July, Helleborus fœtidus, stinking hellebore, bear's-foot, or setterwort. 1907 Daily News 25 Feb. 3 The tender green of the setterwort does not own the power of the frost by a single black spot. |