thyme

English

A thyme plant, Thymus camphoratus

Etymology

From Middle English tyme, from Old French thym, from Latin thymum, from Ancient Greek θύμον (thúmon). Displaced native Old English boþen.

Pronunciation

Noun

thyme (countable and uncountable, plural thymes)

  1. Any plant of the labiate genus Thymus, such as garden thyme (Thymus vulgaris), a warm, pungent aromatic, that is much used to give a relish to seasoning and soups.

Usage notes

  • In older Irish and British poems and songs, the plant was sometimes seen as a metaphor for virginity and chastity.
examples
  • 17th century, A Bunch of Thyme (traditional song):
    Come all ye maidens young and fair
    And you that are blooming in your prime
    Always beware and keep your garden fair
    Let no man steal away your thyme
  • 1792, Kellyburn Braes (Robert Burns Poem):
    I've got a bad wife, sir, that's a' my complaint,
    Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi' thyme;
    "For, savin your presence, to her ye're a saint,"
    And the thyme it is wither'd, and rue is in prime.
  • 19th century, A Sprig of Thyme (traditional):
    Wunst I had a sprig of thyme,
    it prospered by night and by day
    till a false young man came acourtin' te me,
    and he stole all this thyme away.

Derived terms

Translations

References

Anagrams

Latin

Pronunciation

Noun

thyme

  1. vocative singular of thymus
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