common St John's wort
- noun
- /ˈkɑːmən seɪnt dʒɒnz wɜrt/
- UK
:
hipérico común
- Researchers studied how extracts of common St John's wort affected mood in a clinical trial.
Examples
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I bought some common St John's wort at the herbal shop.
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Have you heard about common St John's wort for depression?
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Spanish farmers make a soothing salve from the oil extracted from common St John's wort.
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The fields behind the house were filled with blooming common St John's wort this summer.
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Researchers studied how extracts of common St John's wort affected mood in a clinical trial.
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Spanish farmers make a soothing salve from the oil extracted from common St John's wort.
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The fields behind the house were filled with blooming common St John's wort this summer.
Synonyms
A plant with bright yellow flowers used as a medicine for mild depression and often a weed
A plant with bright yellow flowers used as a natural medicine and in old stories to keep away evil
How Woody
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built: 'wort' denotes a plant/herb, 'St John's' is a possessive proper name indicating the plant is associated with Saint John, and 'common' signals the usual/typical variety. A learner who knows these constituents can therefore infer that this is the common variety of a plant called St John's wort (even if specific botanical or medicinal details are not predictable).
Etymology
Common St John's wort may come from the plant's bright yellow flowers that often bloom around St John's Day, when people would pick it for special customs, and wort is an old word for 'plant' or 'herb'. That's why the name links the shrub to its long use as a healing 'plant' or simple 'medicine' for mood and wounds.