self-heal
(ˈsɛlfhiːl)
Also 4 selfhele, 5 selhele, sulfhele, selfhol (?), 6–7 selfeheale.
[f. self- 1 + heal v.; cf. OHG. selbheila ‘euphrasia’ (see euphrasy).]
A name for various plants believed to have great healing properties, esp. Prunella vulgaris (Common S.), Sanicula europæa, and formerly Pimpinella Saxifraga (see pimpernel 3).
| a 1387 Sinon. Barthol. (Anecd. Oxon.) 11 Armoniaca, i. Self-hele. Ibid. 13 Betonica major, i. Selfhele. Ibid. 33 Oxyndrele, i. Selfhele. Ibid. 43 Unctuosa, Self hele. a 1400–50 [see morecrop]. c 1450 Alphita (Anecd. Oxon.) 193 Unctuosa..an..selhele uel smerwrt. c 1450 M.E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 201 Tak crowsope, penywort, sulfhele. 1526 Grete Herball ccclv. (1529) T vj, De pinpinella. Selfe heale or pympyrnell. 1568 Turner Herbal iii. 61 Selfe heale is good to heale grene woundes. 1664 Dr. Burnet in Pepys Diary 1 July, Take..of Selfeheale, of Red Roses, of each one Handfull. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 326 Self-heal, Sanicula. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 944 The seeds..of the common self-heal, Prunella vulgaris, mix themselves with those of clover. 1880 Jefferies Gt. Estate 132 In the grass the short selfheal shows. |