watercressn.
/ˈwɔːtəkrɛs/, U.S. /ˈwɔdərˌkrɛs/, /ˈwɑdərˌkrɛs/ 1. Any of several hardy perennial aquatic or semiaquatic plants of the genus Nasturtium (family Brassicaeae ( Cruciferae)); esp. N. officinale of Eurasia, growing near springs and in small running streams and now widely cultivated for use as a peppery-tasting salad vegetable.Formerly frequently in plural, esp. as denoting an article of food; in the 17th and 18th centuries the singular form is comparatively uncommon.Formerly placed in the genus Sisymbrium or (more recently) Rorippa, as S. (or R.) nasturtium-aquaticum. Cf. also nasturtium n. 1.
a. In singular.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > leaf vegetables > cress
cressa700
town cresseOE
fen-cressc1000
well-cressOE
nasturtiumOE
watercressc1300
garth-cress?14..
watercress?a1450
women's meadwort?a1450
garden cressa1500
peppergrass?a1500
nosewort1563
nosesmart1589
water-rocket1605
nosewort1608
well grassa1646
cresson1657
water grass1708
tongue-grass1726
poor man's pepper1738
marsh-rocket1739
passerage1879
c1300 in T. Hunt Pop. Med. 13th-cent. Eng. (1990) 228 (MED) Contra tussim: Recipe de peniwrt m. i et m. 2 de watercars.
?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 186v, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Water-cresse Take..þe rote off valeriane, þe sede off water cress, bole armoniak.
?a1450 Agnus Castus (Stockh.) (1950) 186 Nascorium aquaticum. is an herbe þat men clepe water cresse.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 201 Water Cresse being boiled in wine [etc.]..is verie good against the scuruie.
1599 A. M. tr. O. Gaebelkhover Bk. Physicke 75/2 To make sownde Teeth. Take Watercresse, and rubbe the same with wine, and heerwith washe your mouth often times.
1697 J. Pechey Plain Introd. Art Physick 202 They feed on Water-cress, Brook-lime, Scurvy-grass, Money-wort, and the like.
1783 C. Bryant Flora Diætetica 117 The plant [sc. brooklime] is in the highest esteem as an antiscorbutic, and is said even to surpass the Watercress.
1800 E. Darwin Phytologia xi. ii. 269 In the winter months the rise of springs may be detected in moist ditches by the presence of aquatic plants, as of water-cress.
1881 F. G. Heath My Garden Wild xiii. 216 I grew in my stream, some Watercress, whose pinnate leaves are so frequently eaten.
1902 C. J. Cornish Naturalist on Thames 124 The artificial culture of water-cress is comparatively modern.
1967 Life 9 June 108/2 An 88-year-old interpreter..patriotically attributed his longevity to plenty of watercress.
2009 Independent 19 Nov. (Life section) 5/2 In the greengrocers you can get bunches of watercress and whole radicchio.
b. In plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > leaf vegetables > [noun] > cress
cressa700
town cresseOE
nasturtiumOE
watercressa1400
cresson1657
tongue-grass1726
poor man's pepper1738
mustard and cress1808
fen-cress1818
Para cress1857
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 352 Seþe malue, paritorie, violet, watircressen in watir, & lete þe patient sitte þeron anoon to þe nauele.
a1400 Alphita (Selden) (1887) 165 Senacio, narstucium aquaticum idem,..watercresses.
c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 5758 Wiþinne greue and mychel weed, Water-kressen and heiȝe reed.
1528 T. Paynell tr. Arnaldus de Villa Nova in Joannes de Mediolano Regimen Sanitatis Salerni sig. Xivv The drynkynke or annoyntyng with watercressis cure tothe ache.
1590 T. Lodge Euphues' Golden Legacie (1592) O 2 My Loues shall growe vp as the water Cresses, slowly, but with a deepe roote.
1611 in J. Harland House & Farm Accts. Shuttleworths (1856) I. 196 Given to a man which gott the watercresses and brooke lime, vjd.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Cress Water-Cresses have a sharp and biting Taste.
1799 R. Southey Poems II. 93 There were water-cresses growing, And pleasant was the water's flowing.
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. I. 197 Tibbs..began eating water-cresses like a second Nebuchadnezzar.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 145/1 The first coster-cry heard of a morning in the London streets is that of ‘Fresh wo-orter-creases’.
1863 H. W. Longfellow Musician's Tale vii. viii, in Tales Wayside Inn 99 He loved..his brook with its water-cresses.
1917 Amer. Naturalist 51 165 Clear springs and streams supporting vigorous growths of..water cresses.
1973 C. A. Wilson Food & Drink in Brit. ix. 357 Juice was added to the earlier remedy of the fluid expressed from..watercresses.
2. Usually with distinguishing word. Any of various other (chiefly cruciferous) plants likened to watercress in appearance, pungency of taste, or semiaquatic habitat, as bittercress, Cardamine amara, and lady's smock, C. pratensis; now esp. (in full yellow watercress) either the common yellow cress, Rorippa palustris or the great yellow cress, R. amphibia; (in full fool's watercress) marshwort, Apium nodiflorum.In early use glossing Latin apium ranarum, a name of uncertain and probably varying application.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Cruciferae (crucifers) > [noun] > other crucifers
Raphanusa1398
watercress?a1450
boor's mustard1548
dish-mustard1548
rocket1548
treacle mustard1548
heal-dog1551
Thlaspi1562
candy mustard1597
Grecian mustard1597
Italian rocket1597
knave's mustard1597
madwort1597
mithridate mustard1597
moonwort1597
mithridate1605
wall-rocket1611
broom-wort1614
candytuft1629
draba1629
Turkey cress1633
rock cress1650
shepherd's cress1713
pennycress1714
alyssum1731
arabis1756
tower mustard1760
faverel1770
molewort1770
stinkweed1793
wall cabbage1796
wall-cress1796
awl-wort1797
sickle-pod1846
Kerguelen cabbage1847
sun cress1848
sand rocket1854
wall mustard1904
buckler-mustard-
tower-cress-
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > leaf vegetables > cress
cressa700
town cresseOE
fen-cressc1000
well-cressOE
nasturtiumOE
watercressc1300
garth-cress?14..
watercress?a1450
women's meadwort?a1450
garden cressa1500
peppergrass?a1500
nosewort1563
nosesmart1589
water-rocket1605
nosewort1608
well grassa1646
cresson1657
water grass1708
tongue-grass1726
poor man's pepper1738
marsh-rocket1739
passerage1879
?a1450 Agnus Castus (Stockh.) (1950) 131 Apium ranarum. is an herbe. þat men clepe water cresse.
1538 W. Turner Libellus de re Herbaria at Cardamine Water cresses.
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. D.viijv Lauer or Sion is called of some englishe men Bellragges, of other some yealowe watercresses.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball v. lx. 625 The seconde kinde is called..in Englishe, the lesser Watercresse, and Coccow flowers.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 201 There be sixe kindes of wilde herbes numbred among the water Cresse which followe in order.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 255 The roots..are as effectual in this case as green Lauer [margin] Water cresses.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 581 Sisymbrium sylvestre,..Creeping Water Cress.
1817 A. Eaton Man. Bot. 76 Cardamine..pensylvanica, American water-cress.
1837 Ward's Misc. 1 98/1 Accidents have arisen from mistaking fool's-watercress for the common watercress.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 347 Cress, American Water. Cardamine rotundifolia.
1921 Nature 13 Oct. 206/1 The photographs of a reed swamp on a Norfolk broad and of the great yellow watercress.
1960 S. Ary & M. Gregory Oxf. Bk. Wild Flowers 88/1 Fool's Watercress or Marshwort (Apium nodiflorum).
2000 Britannia 31 102 Fool's watercress (Apium nodiflorum) would have grown in such conditions.
Compounds
C1. General attributive, as watercress bed, watercress soup, etc.
ΚΠ
1653 N. Culpeper Pharmacopœia Londinensis 137/1 Take..Watercress seeds, Asarabacca roots, Persian Origanum.., of each half an ounce [etc.].
1787 Compleat Herbal I. 188 Watercress pottage is a good remedy to cleanse the blood in the spring, and help headachs.
1796 Lady's Mag. 27 519/1 (title of poem) The Water-cress Girl.
1821 Morning Chron. 2 Apr. Desirable Leasehold Tavern and Tea Gardens, with capital and productive Watercress Bed.
1876 P. Lacroix Manners, Customs & Dress during Middle Ages & during Renaissance Period 155 We find in the ‘Ménagier’, amongst a long list of the common soups the receipts for which are given.., watercress soup, cabbage soup, cheese soup, and gramose soup.
1906 Daily Chron. 21 Aug. 7/6 Extensive watercress beds.
1923 W. G. R. Francillon Good Cookery (ed. 2) 102 (heading) Watercress soup.
1978 P. Moyes Who is Simon Warwick? xii. 143 Tea had been laid out..silver teapot and milk jug, wafer-thin watercress sandwiches.
1998 Univ. Oxf. Bot. Garden News Autumn 20/1 Lyde Garden across the road was originally watercress beds and now a water garden with moisture-loving plants.
2009 Daily Tel. 11 Feb. 24/4 Lunch on..Gomeran specialities: watercress soup, tortilla and goats' cheese spiked with molo sauce at Bar Maria.
C2. Objective with agent and verbal nouns.
watercress gatherer n.
ΚΠ
1821 Black Dwarf 3 Jan. 23 Like the old water-cress gatherer of Goldsmith's ruined village.
1902 C. J. Cornish Naturalist on Thames 125 A notice warning off the poor water-cress gatherer.
2006 Daily Post (N. Wales) (Nexis) 11 Oct. 19 Davies says he is looking for ‘specialist mushroom pickers, watercress gatherers and wild berry harvesters’.
watercress growing n.
ΚΠ
1871 Notts. Guardian 2 June Water-Cress growing is quite an extensive, and in many cases lucrative, business.
1902 C. J. Cornish Naturalist on Thames 124 Water-cress growing is an increasing business in the Thames Valley.
2014 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 1 Feb. 23 With an annual turnover of just £15,000, we shall be forced to cease watercress growing if we meet their unreasonable demands.
watercress seller n.
ΚΠ
1838 Times 12 Apr. 7/4 In consequence of information from a water-cress seller named Cockerill, he went to the prisoner's house, and found the hamper in his cellar.
1901 Chatterbox 149/1 In London the cry of the watercress seller is very familiar.
2009 S. Featherstone Englishness iv. 71 There follows the ritual journey out of London and chance encounters with iconic rural characters such as tramps and watercress sellers.
C3. Similative.
watercress green n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > green or greenness > [noun] > shade or tint of green > other greens
beech-greenc1450
frost on green1559
sap1572
apple green1648
sap-green1686
myrtle green1717
Brunswick green1790
pistachio1791
pistachio green1793
mountain green1794
lettuce green1834
copper-green1843
canard1872
myrtle1872
leaf-green1880
cress-green1883
cresson1883
watercress green1883
lizard-green1897
jade1921
apple1923
laurel1923
mango1930
laurel-green1938
lettuce1963
mint1967
1883 Daily Evening Bull. (San Francisco) 1 Sept. Of the new greens, the first is cresson, or water cress green.
1939 Times 24 Feb. 21/2 New colours are daffodil-yellow, watercress-green, anchovy-pink, and many others.
2006 B. Stutz Chasing Spring i. 5 Diatom green in slow running stream, buoyant sun-dappled lily pad green, and rime-varnished watercress green.
Derivatives
ˈwatercressy adj. containing or resembling watercress.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [adjective] > of or covered with particular leaf vegetable
Silesia1796
spinaceous1822
watercressy1828
cressy1859
romaine1865
spinachy1950
1828 J. Wilson in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 24 284 Over all the water-cressy and puddocky ditches.
1912 Evening News 12 Oct. 4/6 The rapid, watercressy Bulbourne River.
2006 P. Jordan Field Guide Edible Mushrooms Brit. & Europe (2007) 63/2 The young ones have a peppery, watercressy flavour that is excellent raw in salads.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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