wortcunning

noun
/ˈwɜːtˌkʌnɪŋ/UK/ˈwɝtˌkʌnɪŋ/US

Etymology

From wort + cunning.

  1. inherited from cunnung — “knowledge, trial, probation, experience, contact, carnal knowledge
  2. derived from cunnan — “to know how to, be able to
  3. inherited from *cunning
  4. inherited from cunning
  5. compounded as wortcunning — “wort + cunning

Definitions

  1. Knowledge of the medicinal uses of plants and herbs.

    • (see title)
    • Evidence of the universal belief in wortcunning at this period is found in one of the Proverbs of Alfred.
    • Perhaps the oldest word for penis in the English language is tarse, first recorded in an eleventh-century book of wort-cunning, that is, a medical treatise explaining the use of various herbs or worts.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for wortcunning. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA