Henbit
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An annual herb, of species Lamium amplexicaule, with pink or purple flowers and deeply crenate leaves.
"The fourth kind (called of the base Almaignes Hoenderbeet) that is to say, Henbit, hath many round and hairie stems. The leaves be somewhat round, hairie, and a little snipt or jagged about the edges, otherwise not much unlike the leaves of great Chickweede. The floures be blew or purple, and do bring foorth^([sic]) small close knappes or huskes, in which is inclosed the seede."
- 2 Eurasian plant having toothed leaves and small two-lipped white or purplish-red flowers wordnet
- 3 Other species of plant that resemble L. amplexicaule, especially related species of deadnettle in the genus Lamium. broadly
Example
More examples"The fourth kind (called of the base Almaignes Hoenderbeet) that is to say, Henbit, hath many round and hairie stems. The leaves be somewhat round, hairie, and a little snipt or jagged about the edges, otherwise not much unlike the leaves of great Chickweede. The floures be blew or purple, and do bring foorth^([sic]) small close knappes or huskes, in which is inclosed the seede."
Etymology
Calque of Dutch hoenderbeet. By surface analysis, hen + bit (past participle of bite; bitten). First attested in 1578. Cognate with Middle Low German hennebit and German Hühnerbiss; all likely derived from Medieval Latin Morsus gallinae, the ancestor of Italian mordigallina, French morgeline and obsolete English margeline. See also chickweed.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.