▪ I. wort, n.1
(wɜːt)
Forms: 1 wyrt, 2 wirte, 6 pl. wirtes; 2 wert, 4 pl. wertes; 1, 3, 5–7 wurt (5 pl. wurten), 3 wrt, 3–7 worte (5 wourte), 4– wort (5 pl. worttus, 6 woort).
[OE. wyrt root, plant = OS. wurt, OHG. (MHG. and G.) wurz, ON. (Icel., Norw., Sw., Da.) urt, Goth. waurts; the stem is related to those of ON. rót root n., and of L. rādix, Gr. ῥίζα.
For the history of the spelling and pronunciation, see the note to worm n.]
1. A plant, herb, or vegetable, used for food or medicine; often = pot-herb.
Not in ordinary use after the middle of the 17th cent. and now arch. As a second element, however, retained in various plant-names, as colewort, liverwort.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter lxxxix. 6 On marne swe swe wyrt leoreð. c 897 ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxiii. 173 Maneᵹra cynna wyrta & grasu. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xi. 42 Ᵹiæ teiᵹðas meric & cunela & ælc wyrt. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 70 Ðeos wyrt þe man betonicam nemneð. c 1250 Lay. 31884 Þat folc flah in to wudes..heo luueden bi wurten. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 119 Ilk gres, ilc wurt,..His owen sed beren bad he. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6999 It wolde finde hom lec & worten inowe bi þe ȝere. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 42 Schadowed þis wortez ful schyre & schene, Gilofre, gyngure, & gromylyoun, & pyonys. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 170 Whan she homward cam she wolde brynge Wortes or othere herbes tymes ofte. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 46 Hakke smalle þy wortis and persyl. c 1475 Macro Plays, Mankind 265, I was neuer worth a pottfull a wortis, sythyn I was borne. 1531 Elyot Governor iii. xxii. (1883) II. 343 Wortes that the feldes do brynge furthe, for their potage. 1578 Lyte Dodoens v. lxxv. 642 Cyues..is set in gardens amongst potte herbes, or wurtes. 1605 Verstegan Dec. Intell. vii. 238 Wirta or Wurta. Woortes, for which wee now vse the French name of herbes. 1653 Jer. Taylor Serm. Yr., Winter xvi. ii. 204 It is an excellent pleasure to be able to take pleasure in worts and water, in bread and onions. 1755 Johnson, Wort. i. Originally a general name for an herb; whence it still continues in many, as liverwort, spleenwort. 1864 Cockayne Leechd. (Rolls) I. Pref. p. liii, We find the healing power of worts spoken of as a thing of course. 1888 A. S. Wilson Lyric Hopeless Love cxv. 330 And worts and pansies there which grew Have secrets others wish they knew. |
† 2. A general name for any plant of the cabbage kind, genus
Brassica; colewort.
Obs.| c 1340 Nominale (Skeat) 190 Woman mylk and wortis soupith. c 1440 Palladius on Husb. i. 154 Saue wortis [exceptis caulibus] sowe in hem what euere hit be. c 1450 Two Cookery-Bks. 69 Hare in Wortes—Take Colys, and stripe hem faire from the stalkes. a 1500 Mourn. Hare in E.E. Misc. (Warton Club) 44 Yf I to the toune come or torne, Be hit in worttus or in leyke. 1538 Turner Libellus, Brassica..anglice uocatur wortes aut Cole aut Cole Wortes. [1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. i. 123 Fal. Good worts? good Cabidge.] 1601 Holland Pliny xix. iv. II. 11 Here is the stem of a woort so well growne, here is a cabbage so thriven and fed, that a poore mans boord will not hold it. 1617 Fletcher Valentinian iii. ii, I am poor,..yet digging, pruning,..Planting of Worts and Onions, any thing That's honest,..I'll rather chuse. 1648 Herrick Hesper., To M. Jo. Wicks 12 A Dish Of thrice-boyl'd-worts. 1755 Johnson, Wort 2. A plant of the cabbage kind. |
† 3. pl. a. = pottage 1.
Obs.| c 1400 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) Prol. 231 He shall lat ordeynn wele his soper with wortis of the necke of the hert and of oþer good metes. 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 114 Wortes made of olde chese, cicer, cristall beaten to powder and taken with hony. 1547 Baldwin Mor. Philos. 7 If thou, Diogenes, couldest flatter Dionise, thou shouldst not need to make woorts. 1556 Withals Dict. (1562) 51/2 Pulmentum, a meate made lyke grewell or wortes. |
† b. With qualifying word:
esp. long worts.
| c 1430 Two Cookery-Bks. 5 Lange Wortys de chare.—Take beeff and merybonys, and boyle yt in fayre water; þan take fayre wortys and..parboyle hem in clene water [etc.]. Ibid., Lange Wortes de pesoun. c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 518 Frumenty with venesoun, pesyn with bakon, longe wortes not spare. c 1500 Wyl Bucke's Test. (Copland) B 1 b, For to make small wortes{ddd}then take herbes of the beste that thou can gete for wortes, and hewe them small. |
4. Comb., as
† wort blade,
† wort-leaf,
† wort-plant,
† wort porridge;
wort-blue adj.;
† wort-cropper, a name for the hare;
wort-cunning (pseudo-
arch.), the knowledge of herbs and plants;
† wort-stock, a cabbage-stalk;
† wort-yard, a herb-garden. Also
wortworm.
| 14.. Lat.-Eng. Voc. (MS. Harl. 2257), Caulis,..a *worte blade. |
| 1933 Auden in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1978) Aug. 304 Wound round neck the *wort-blue tie. |
| 13.. Names of Hare (MS. Digby 86 lf. 168 b), Þe cawelhert, þe *wort-croppere. |
| 1864 Cockayne (title) Leechdoms, *Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England. |
| 1579 Langham Gard. Health 13 Rosted in a Docke or *Worte leafe. |
| c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 786/37 Hoc olusculum, a *wurtplant. |
| 1556 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 240 Item, *worte porrege,..iij{supd}. |
| 14.. in Wr.-Wülcker 594/31 Mandarus,..a *wortstoke. 1601 Holland Pliny xx. ix. II. 50 Wort-stocks beeing dried and burnt into ashes. |
| c 1000 Cambr. Ps. cxliii. 13 Prumptuaria, hordyrn vel *wyrt⁓ᵹeardas. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 331 He..suffrede not, for defaute of preching, Goddis vyneȝerde passe to a wortȝerd. 1382 ― 1 Kings xxi. 2 Ȝif to me thi vyn ȝerd, that I make to me a wort ȝerd. |
▪ II. wort, n.2 (
wɜːt)
Forms: 1
wyrt, 5
wirt; 4–
wort, 4–7
worte (5
wortte), 4
wourt, 5
wurt(e, 5–7
woort (6
woorte).
[OE. wyrt = OS. wurtja spicery, MHG. and G. würze, spice, brewer's wort), f. the stem wurt-; cf. wyrt wort n.1] 1. The infusion of malt or other grain which after fermentation becomes beer (or may be used for the distillation of spirits), unfermented beer.
† Of beer:
(to be) in wort, still unfermented. (See also sweetwort.)
| c 1000 Ags. Leechd. II. 268 Bewylle þone þriddan dæl on hwætene wyrt. c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 158 Fro wort to ale. a 1387 Sinon. Barthol. (Anecd. Oxon.) 16 Ciromellum, worte. c 1450 Two Cookery-Bks. ii. 107 Seth hem [sc. quinces] in goode wort til þey be soft. 1492 Acta Dom. Concil. (1839) 243/1 Þe spoliatioun..of..half a chalder of malt in ail and wort. 1574 R. Scot Hop Garden (1578) 54 In the first Woorte..there goeth out of these Hoppes almost no vertue at all. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 233 Nay then two treyes, an if you grow so nice Methegline, Wort, and Malmsey. 1602 Rowlands Greenes Ghost 8 They put in willowe leaues and broome buds into their woort in steed of hoppes. 1626 Bacon Sylva §385 It were good also to try the Beere, when it is in Wort, that it may be seene, whether [etc.]. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1699) I. 314 This in 2 hours time will ferment and froth like Wort. 1731 P. Shaw Three Ess. Artif. Philos. 65 When a parcel of Wort, brewed in the common manner, is become fine by standing. 1738 Gentl. Mag. VIII. 140/1 An eighth Part of the Wort evaporated in three Hours boiling. 1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 24/1 By the excise rules, 100 gallons of such wort ought to yield one gallon of proof spirit for every five degrees of attenuation. 1868 Spencer Princ. Psych. vi. vii. (1872) II. 71 Fermenting wort gives out carbonic acid. 1880 Act 43 & 44 Vict. c. 24 §5 (1) No person may, without being licensed..Brew or make wort or wash. |
† b. Sc. to play wort: to work or stir the mash in the brewing vessel.
Obs.| 1644 Markinch Kirk Sess. Rec. 10 Jan., The collecteres..delateth that Alex{supr} Greig his wyff & his woman wer playing wort. Ibid. 12 May, James Robertson..denyed that thair was any wort played in his hous the fasting Wednesday. |
† c. fig. to cast in one's worts that, etc.: to give one something to meditate upon or consider.
Obs.| 1539 Cromwell Let. to Hen. VIII, 5 Feb. (1902) II. 176 And yet further I casted in his worttes that if they wold regarde them [sc. the Pope's censures] your highnes was and shuld be hable..to defende..yourself.. and that..they shuld not fynde your grace unfournished of all thinges expedient. |
2. An infusion or decoction of malt formerly used in treatment of ulcers, of scurvy, and other diseases.
| 1694 Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1713) 717/2 This medicine will do much better in a strong Decoction of Ground Malt, Anglice Wort. 1766 in Macbride Th. & Pract. Physic (1772) 642 The first day he took the wort, he had the following scorbutic symptoms. 1770 Rush in Med. Observ. (1772) IV. 367 An Account of the Usefulness of Wort in some ill-conditioned Ulcers. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., chiefly in names of utensils and materials used in brewing, as
† wort-cake,
wort-condenser,
wort-cooler,
wort copper,
† wort dish,
† wort-fat,
wort-filter,
† wort-lead,
wort-refrigerator,
† wort-stone,
† wort-trough,
wort tub,
wort tun; also
worts-receiver.
| 1795 Sir J. Dalrymple Let. to Admiralty 3 My Yeast⁓powder..to set the first parcel of *Wort-cakes in fermentation. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Wort-condenser, one for condensing the vapor which rises from the wort in the process of boiling. |
| Ibid., *Wort-cooler, usually a shallow vat of large area, in which the infusion of malt is placed to cool. |
| 1838 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 406/2 The consumption of fuel was much more considerable in the immense grate under the *wort copper. |
| 1747 in Nairne Peerage Evid. (1874) 80 In the brewhouse..a *wort dish, sixpence. |
| 1367 Priory of Finchale (Surtees) p. lxxviii, iiij gilfatts sive *wourtfatts. 1583 Rec. Elgin (New Spald. Club 1903) I. 172 Ane masking fatt, ane wortfatt. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Wort-filter, one for extracting the clear liquor from the boiled mash. |
| 1420 Inventory in Lincoln Chapter Acc. Bk. A. 2. 30. f. 69, 2 *wortleddes. a 1550 in Strutt Horda (1776) III. 65 Item 6 wort leeds, callyd coolars. |
| 1893 Nettleton Manuf. Spirit 103 They drain by several pipes..into a *worts-receiver. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Wort-refrigerator, an apparatus for cooling wort after boiling with hops and previous to fermentation. |
| 1529 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. (1883) 178 A mask fat, a *wort stane. 1542 Richmond Wills (Surtees) 30 A brown leed..a maskefatt,..and a worston. |
| 1485 in Ripon Ch. Acts (Surtees) 371, j *wort trogh de lapide. 1660 Melrose Regality Rec. (S.H.S.) I. 295 Ane woorttroch. |
| 1580 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 320 Foure gyle fattis and ane *wort tube. |
| 1635 Toke (Kent) Estate Accts. (MS.) fol. 178 The great *worte tunne in bruhouse. |
▪ III. † wort, n.3 Sc. Obs. [Metathetic form of wrot wroot n.] The snout of a pig.
| 1507 Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 436 That nay swyne be haldin withtin this toun, vtteuche band, or ane ring in thar wort,..and gif thai be fundin vteuche band, and without ring in thar wort,..thai salbe eshet, [etc.]. |
▪ IV. wort variant of
whort.
| 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 370 Black Worts. Black Whortle-berries. |
▪ V. † wort, v. Sc. Obs. [Metathetic form of wrot wroot v. Cf. wort n.3] trans. Of swine: To root or dig
up (ground).
| 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) II. 164 Ane swine that..wortis othir mennes landis, sal be slane. 1560 Maitl. Club Misc. III. 218 That odiouse Beast and lecherouse Swyne (quhai hais worted and ruted vp the Lordes wyne yard so far as in him wes). 1597 Jas. VI Dæmonol. iii. i. 59 When as Swine wortes vppe the graues. 1808 Jamieson, To Wort, Wort-up, v.a., to dig up. |
▪ VI. wort var. vorte,
forte conj. (
= until).
| a 1400 R. Glouc. Chron. (Rolls) 4920 + 22 Vorte [MS. a. wort] God yt wolde amende. |