shepherd's pursen.
1. A common cruciferous weed, Capsella Bursapastoris, bearing pouch-like pods.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > [noun] > shepherd's purse
pursewortc1300
shepherd's pursea1400
case weeda1500
shepherd's bag1548
shepherd's pouch1568
shepherd's scrip1578
pickpurse1597
poor man's parmacety1597
toothwort1597
toywort1597
shepherd's pedler1811
pickpocket1854
a1400–50 Stockh. Med. MS 172 Shepherdys purs.
a1500 Gl. Sloane in Sax. Leechd. III. 331 Herdys purse.]
?1550 H. Llwyd tr. Pope John XXI Treasury of Healthe sig. G.viiv Hold thy handful of sheparders [sic] purse.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. lv. 81 Bursa pastoris..[is called] in English Shepherds purse, Scrippe, or Pouche.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 215 Shepheardes purse staieth bleeding in any part of the bodie.
1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden xxxv. 71 In English it is called Shepheards purse or Scrip, from the likenesse the Seed hath with that kind of leatherne bag, wherein Shepherds carry their Victualls into the field.
1713 J. Petiver Catal. Ray's Eng. Herbal Ragged Sheaperds-purse.
1882 G. Allen Colours of Flowers i. 15 The petals of shepherd's-purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) have been observed antheriferous.
2. dialect. The fossil echinus found in the chalk.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Echinodermata > [noun] > subphylum Eleutherozoa > class Echinoidea > fossil
fairy stone1646
fairy loaf1827
shepherd's crown1893
shepherd's purse1893
1893 Surrey Gloss. Shepherd's crown or Shepherd's purse, the fossil Echinus, from the chalk.
1900 A. Harston Let. to Editor (O.E.D. Archive) ‘Shepherd's Purse’, the common name in some parts of the Country (e.g. Kent) for the Fossil Sea Urchins found in the Chalk formation.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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n.a1400