Etymograph

English

herbaceous

Herbaceous comes from Latin herbāceus ‘grassy’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- ‘to grow (of plants?)’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰreh₁-1‘to grow (of plants?)’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰer-dʰ1uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEherba1‘grass, herbage’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEherbāceus1‘grassy’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1859herbaceous1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English herbaceous
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1859, Shirley Hibberd, The Town Garden: “[…] and it contains a very good selection of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰreh₁-Wiktionary, English herbaceous‘to grow (of plants?)’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰer-dʰWiktionary, English herbaceousuncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEherbaWiktionary, English herbaceous‘grass, herbage’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEherbāceusWiktionary, English herbaceous‘grassy’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1859herbaceousWiktionary, English herbaceous. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1859, Shirley Hibberd, The Town Garden: “[…] and it contains a very good selection of…”

Equivalent to herb + -aceous

Latin herba ‘grass, herbage’

Old French erbe ‘grass’

Middle English herbe ‘a herbaceous plant’

English herb

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- ‘to grow (of plants?)’

green, grow, grass, groom, gourmet, graze, greedily, ambergris, yerba, 17 more

through Latin herba ‘grass, herbage’

arbor, herbivore, herbivorous, 4 more

Today it means

adj Not woody, lacking lignified tissues.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “herbaceous”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- / herbaceous

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