nettle
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English
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Braendenaelde.jpg/220px-Braendenaelde.jpg)
Etymology
[edit]From Middle English netle, netel, from Old English netle, netele, netel, from Proto-West Germanic *natilā (cognate with Old Saxon netila, Middle Dutch netele (modern Dutch netel), German Nessel, Middle Danish nædlæ (“nettle”)), a diminutive of Proto-Germanic *natǭ (of unknown origin, perhaps from the same source as net).
Pronunciation
[edit]- enPR: nĕt'(ə)l, IPA(key): /ˈnɛt(ə)l/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (Southern England): (file) - Rhymes: -ɛt(ə)l
Noun
[edit]nettle (plural nettles)
- Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.
- Especially, most species of herb genus Urtica, the stinging nettles:
- Most, but not all, subspecies of Urtica dioica (common nettle),
- Urtica incisa (Australian nettle);
- Wood nettle (Laportea canadensis);
- Bull nettles and spurge nettles (Cnidoscolus spp.):
- Cnidoscolus stimulosus, bull nettle, spurge nettle,
- Cnidoscolus texanus, Texas bull nettle,
- Cnidoscolus urens, bull nettle,
- Nettle trees or tree nettles:
- Various species of the genus Dendrocnide:
- Urera baccifera (scratchbush),
- Urtica ferox (tree nettle);
- rock nettle (Eucnide spp.);
- small-leaved nettle (Dendrocnide photinophylla).
- Especially, most species of herb genus Urtica, the stinging nettles:
- Certain plants that have spines or prickles:
- Certain non-stinging plants, mostly in the family Lamiaceae, that resemble the species of Urtica:
- dead nettle, dumb nettle (Lamium spp.), particularly Lamium album, white nettle;
- false nettle (Boehmeria spp., family Urticaceae);
- flame nettle or painted nettle (Coleus spp.);
- hedge nettle (Stachys spp.);
- hemp nettle (Galeopsis spp.);
- horse nettle Agastache urticifolia,
- nilgiri nettle, Himalayan giant nettle (Girardinia diversifolia, family Urticaceae).
- Loosely, anything which causes a similarly stinging rash, such as a jellyfish or sea nettle.
Derived terms
[edit]- deadnettle
- devil's nettle
- dwarf nettle
- fen nettle
- grasp the nettle
- hemp-nettle
- hemp nettle
- nettle agent
- nettle cloth
- nettle-fish
- nettle-leaf giant hyssop
- nettle-leaf horsemint
- nettle-leaved horsemint
- nettlelike
- nettle-monger
- nettle rash
- nettle-rash
- nettle-rashed
- nettlesome
- nettle-tap
- nettle tree, nettle tree butterfly
- nettly
- sea nettle
- stinging nettle
- stingless nettle
Translations
[edit]stinging herb of genus Urtica
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deadnettle — see deadnettle
Verb
[edit]nettle (third-person singular simple present nettles, present participle nettling, simple past and past participle nettled)
- (transitive) Of the nettle plant and similar physical causes, to sting, causing a rash in someone.
- The children were badly nettled after playing in the field.
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
- […] I am whipp’d and scourged with rods, / Nettled and stung with pismires, when I hear / Of this vile politician, Bolingbroke.
- (transitive, figurative) To pique, irritate, vex or provoke.
- 1658, Thomas Browne, “The Garden of Cyrus. […]. Chapter II.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, […] Together with The Garden of Cyrus, […], London: […] Hen[ry] Brome […], →OCLC, pages 110–111:
- [T]his is no lavv unto the vvoof of the neat Retiarie Spider, vvhich ſeems to vveave vvithout tranſverſion, and by the union of right lines to make out a continued ſurface, vvhich is beyond the common art of Textury, and may ſtill nettle Minerva the Godeſſe of that myſtery.
- 1679 April 6 (date licensed; Gregorian calendar), A[phra] Behn, The Feign‘d Curtizans, or, A Nights Intrigue. A Comedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], published 1679, →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page 59:
- His Miſtreſs: vvhoſe Miſtreſs, vvhat Miſtreſs; s'life hovv that little vvord has nettled me!
- 1741, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXI”, in Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded. […], 3rd edition, volume I, London: […] C[harles] Rivington, […]; and J. Osborn, […], →OCLC:
- I saw Mr. Williams was a little nettled at my Impatience […]
- 1985, United States, Daily Report: People's Republic of China, numbers 180-189, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, page 42:
- Liu, whose political writings had nettled the Taiwanese authorities, was assassinated on October 15, last year, in Daly City […]
Translations
[edit]of the nettle plant etc., to sting causing a rash
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to pique, irritate, vex or provoke someone
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- Rhymes:English/ɛt(ə)l
- Rhymes:English/ɛt(ə)l/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
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- en:Cornales order plants
- en:Mint family plants
- en:Nettle family plants
- en:Spurges