wormseed mustard

9.9

A small wild plant with yellow flowers that often grows as a weed

noun
/ˈwɜrmˌsid ˈmʌstərd/

: mostaza de semilla de gusano

Ancient herbalists once recommended wormseed mustard as a treatment for intestinal parasites.

Examples

The fields were overrun with wormseed mustard after a wet spring.
Farmers often consider wormseed mustard a troublesome weed.
Gardeners struggle to eliminate wormseed mustard because it spreads quickly among crops.
The wormseed mustard grows wild in many gardens.
Ancient herbalists once recommended wormseed mustard as a treatment for intestinal parasites.
Farmers often consider wormseed mustard a troublesome weed in their fields.
Gardeners struggle to eliminate wormseed mustard because it spreads quickly among crops.

Synonyms

Erysimum cheiranthoides

vswormseed mustard

Specialized

9.9

A thin European plant in the mustard family with yellow flowers that often grows as an unwanted weed

is the common everyday name rather than the scientific Latin form

Surface Forms

wormseed mustard singular

wormseed mustards plural

Morphology

wormseed + mustard

This is a straightforward noun+noun compound where 'wormseed' (a plant used to expel intestinal worms) modifies 'mustard', so a learner who knows both words can infer it is a type of mustard associated with wormseed properties or used for that purpose. The compositional pattern is regular in English (modifier specifying a subtype) and cross-linguistically common, making the meaning predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Wormseed mustard is a small yellow mustard whose name comes from wormseed, because people once used its seeds 'to expel intestinal worms'. Because the plant spreads quickly in fields and is hard to remove, the name also points to it being 'a weed', so the phrase links its medicinal use and its weedy nature.