noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The plant costmary (Tanacetum balsamita), formerly much used for flavoring ale. uncountable, usually
2. 2
   tansy-scented Eurasian perennial herb with buttonlike yellow flowers; used as potherb or salad green and sometimes for potpourri or tea or flavoring; sometimes placed in genus Chrysanthemum wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

balsam herbbible leafchrysanthemum balsamitacostmarycostmarymint geranium

Etymology

From ale + Latin costus (“an aromatic plant”). Compare costmary.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.