A plant, especially one formerly believed to have medicinal properties for ear ailments.
Compound of 'ear' and 'wort' (Old English 'wyrt' meaning 'plant' or 'herb'). Medieval herbalists classified plants by their supposed uses, hence 'earwort' for plants thought to cure ear problems.
Medieval herbalists believed in the 'doctrine of signatures'—a plant that resembled an ear must cure ear problems! This magical thinking created dozens of comically named herbs that actually had zero connection to what they claimed to treat.
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