The spelling of the word "wort" might be confusing to some English speakers. IPA phonetic transcription shows that "wort" is pronounced with a silent "o," like "wurt." The IPA transcription is /wɜrt/. The word "wort" can refer to a variety of herbal teas or an embryonic plant before it starts to grow. To remember the spelling, think of the "-ort" sound in other words like "fort" or "sort."
Wort is a noun that has a few different definitions, depending on its context:
1. In brewing: Wort refers to the liquid extracted from mashing malted barley during the brewing process. It is the initial stage where the grain is steeped in hot water and enzymes break down the starches into fermentable sugars. Wort is then transferred to a fermentation vessel where yeast is added to convert the sugars into alcohol.
2. In botany: Wort is used to describe certain plants and herbs that are traditionally believed to possess healing properties. These plants are typically used to make infusions or decoctions for medicinal purposes. For example, St. John's wort is an herbaceous plant often used in herbal medicine to treat mild depression, anxiety, and other ailments.
3. In etymology: Wort is a term of Germanic origin that initially meant "plant" or "herb" in Old English and Middle English. It is related to the modern German word "Wurz" and Dutch word "wortel," both of which mean "root." Over time, the meaning of "wort" evolved to include the liquid extracted from mashing malted barley during brewing.
In summary, wort refers to the liquid in brewing that contains the fermentable sugars derived from malted barley. It also refers to certain plants or herbs used for medicinal purposes.
• The decoction of barley of which beer is made; new beer unfermented or in the act of fermentation.
• A plant; a herb; now used only in compound words, as colewort, liverwort.
Etymological and pronouncing dictionary of the English language. By Stormonth, James, Phelp, P. H. Published 1874.
* The statistics data for these misspellings percentages are collected from over 15,411,110 spell check sessions on www.spellchecker.net from Jan 2010 - Jun 2012.
The word "wort" originated from the Old English "wyrt" or "wort", which meant "root" or "plant". This Old English term is thought to have Germanic roots, possibly derived from the Proto-Germanic word *wurtiz. The word "wort" has historically been used to refer to various plants and herbs, especially those used for medicinal or culinary purposes. Over time, its meaning evolved, and it can now also refer specifically to the liquid extract obtained from steeping or brewing herbs or plants.