cress

Meaning

A plant of various species, chiefly cruciferous. The leaves have a moderately pungent taste, and are used as a salad and antiscorbutic.

Synonyms

garden cress

watercress

cress plant

garden pepper cress

pepper grass

water fennel

poor man’s pepper

cardamom

poor man's pepper

garden

weed

pepperwort

gardencress

Translations

berro

Kresse

cresson

crescione

mastuerzo

κάρδαμο

mastruço

Brunnenkresse

tere

waterkers

agrião

tuinkers

cresson alénois

νεροκάρδαμο

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kɹɛs/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: cresse

Inherited from Old English: cressa

Cognate with Western Frisian: kers

Cognate with Dutch: kers

Cognate with German: Kresse

Cognate with Danish: karse

Cognate with Swedish: krasse

Cognate with Icelandic: krassi

In summary

From Middle English cresse, crasse, from Old English cressa, cærse (“cress”), from Proto-West Germanic *krassjō, from Proto-Germanic *krasjô (“cress”). Cognate with West Frisian kers (“cress”), Dutch kers (“cress”), German Kresse (“cress”), Danish karse (“cress”), Swedish krasse (“cress”), Icelandic krassi (“cress”).