wort

1. (archaic or historical) Now chiefly as the second element in the names of plants: a plant used for food or medicine.Examples: "[T]he people of his citye, […] shulde be norysshed with barly brede and cakes of whete, and that the residue of their diete shulde be salte, olyues, chese, and likes, and more ouer wortes that the feldes do brynge furthe, for their potage."; "[H]e [a poor person] drinks vvater, and liue's of vvort leaues, pulſe, like a hog, or ſcraps like a dog, […]"; "It is an excellent pleaſure to be able to take pleaſure in vvorts and vvater, in bread and onions; […]"Synonyms: herb, potherb, vegetable, herbarchaichistorical

2. (specifically, historical) Chiefly in the plural: a plant of the genus Brassica used as a vegetable; a brassica; especially, a cabbage (Brassica oleracea).Examples: "VVhy (ſay they in ſcorne and contempt of povertie) here is the ſtem of a vvoort ſo vvell grovvne, here is a cabbage ſo thriven and fed, that a poore mans boord vvill not hold it."; "I am poore / And may expect a vvorſe; yet digging, pruning, / Mending of broken vvayes, carrying of vvater, / Planting of VVorts, and Onyons, any thing / That's honeſt, and a mans, Ile rather chooſe, […]"; "Though ne'er ſo mean the Viands be, / They vvell content my Prevv and me. / Or Pea, or Bean, or VVort, or Beet, / VVhat ever comes, content makes ſvveet: […]"historicalspecifically

3. (by extension, botany) A non-vascular plant growing on land from the division Anthocerotophyta (the hornworts) or Marchantiophyta (liverworts); an anthocerotophyte or marchantiophyte.broadly