A plant traditionally believed to cure or relieve fits (seizures) or convulsions in people or animals.
From 'fit' (seizures or convulsions, from Old Norse via Middle English) plus 'weed' (a plant, from Old English 'weod'), combining to name medicinal herbs used in folk medicine.
Many plant names directly encode their medicinal purpose—'fitweed,' 'feverfew,' 'lungwort'—creating a lost medical encyclopedia in plant names that medieval herbalists could read like a shopping list of cures.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.