Liverwort
//ˈlɪv.ə.wɜːt// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A type of bryophyte with a leafy stem or leafless thallus characterized by a dominant gametophyte stage and a lack of stomata on the sporophyte stage of the life cycle. countable, uncountable
"The liverworts are either thallose, without any differentiation into stem and leaves, or leafy."
- 2 any of numerous small green nonvascular plants of the class Hepaticopsida growing in wet places and resembling green seaweeds or leafy mosses wordnet
- 3 A common flowering perennial herb of northern woodlands, Hepatica nobilis (syn. Anemone hepatica), used in traditional European herbal medicine. countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"The liverworts are either thallose, without any differentiation into stem and leaves, or leafy."
Etymology
From Middle English lyverwort, liverwort, from Old English liferwyrt, equivalent to liver + wort, from the belief that some species looked like livers and were useful for treating the liver medicinally.
Related phrases
More for "liverwort"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.