noun ·3 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A perennial herbaceous plant (Epilobium angustifolium or Chamaenerion angustifolium) in the willowherb family Onagraceae. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   an American weedy plant with small white or greenish flowers wordnet
3. 3
   Any of the flowering plants of the genus Erechtites. countable, uncountable
4. 4
   tall North American perennial with creeping rootstocks and narrow leaves and spikes of pinkish-purple flowers occurring in great abundance in burned-over areas or recent clearings; an important honey plant wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

rosebay willowherbblitzweedbombweedburnweedepilobium angustifoliumerechtites hieracifolia

Etymology

From fire + weed. The fire-part may be of same origin as eld-part in dialectal Norwegian Nynorsk eldmerke (“fireweed”).

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