What does figwort mean?
Figwort is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Scrophularia, most familiar through common figwort (Scrophularia nodosa) and water figwort (Scrophularia auriculata). These tall perennials bear square stems, opposite leaves, and small, unshowy brownish-purple flowers that nonetheless attract bees and wasps, making them useful additions to wildlife gardens. The name combines 'wort', an ancient English word simply meaning plant or herb, with 'fig', a reference early herbalists drew from the fancied resemblance of the plant's roots to figs. Figwort carries strong historical associations with folk medicine: it was long applied to swellings, sores, and skin complaints, earning it old alternative names such as cancerwort and kernelwort. Today the word belongs chiefly to the vocabulary of botany, gardening, and herbalism, where it denotes a modest but ecologically valuable native wildflower.
nounA tall herbaceous plant of the genus Scrophularia (family Scrophulariaceae), having square stems, small brownish-green flowers, and a long history of use in traditional herbal medicine.
- Any plant of the genus Scrophularia, especially common figwort (S. nodosa), an erect perennial with square stems and small dull reddish-brown flowers.
- (In older herbal usage) A medicinal plant traditionally applied to swellings, wounds, and skin conditions.
"The figwort flourished in the damp hedgerow, its small maroon blooms barely noticed by passing walkers."
"Bees flock to the inconspicuous blooms of water figwort along the riverbank."
"Old English leechbooks recommended a poultice of figwort for drawing out swellings."
Regular English plural; used when referring to multiple plants or species of the genus.
"Several figworts grow along the shaded margin of the pond."
Despite the name, figwort has nothing to do with figs — early herbalists just thought its roots looked like them, then prescribed it for ailments they believed were similarly fig-shaped.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of figwort
Figwort is a compound of Old English elements: 'fig' (from Latin ficus, via French) and 'wort', from Old English wyrt, meaning plant or herb, which descends from Proto-Germanic *wurtiz and is distantly related to Latin radix, 'root'. The name arose because medieval herbalists thought the plant's tuberous roots resembled figs. The genus name Scrophularia likewise reflects medicinal folklore, alluding to scrofula, a swelling of the lymph nodes the plant was once thought to treat.
How figwort is actually used
Botanical and somewhat formal in register; most everyday speakers will never need the word, encountering it mainly in gardening, botany, and herbal-medicine contexts. In North America, related native species such as Scrophularia marilandica are likewise called figwort. The plural is regular.
Easily confused with figwort
A fig is the sweet edible fruit of Ficus carica, whereas figwort is an unrelated flowering herb whose name derives from a fancied resemblance rather than any kinship.
'Worth' means value or merit, while 'wort' in figwort is an old English word meaning plant or herb — the two share only a superficial similarity in sound.