tansy
English
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tansy¹
- /ˈtanzi/ UK
- /ˈtæn.zi/ US
Rhymes with (US) -ænzi
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English tansy, tansey, syncopic forms of earlier tanesie, tanesei, from Old French tanesie, tanoisie, tanasie, tanaisie, from Medieval Latin tanacetum, atanacetum, attested since the 8th century, of obscure origin, speculated from Ancient Greek ἀθανασία (athanasía, “immortality”) owing to hallucinations from the thujone in the plant, else from taenia (“tapeworm”) due to its primary use against parasites by which reason it is called in Arabic حَشِيشَة الدُود (ḥašīša ad-dūd, literally “worm herb”), otherwise a Berber borrowing like tagetes.
noun tansies
- A herbaceous plant with yellow flowers, of the genus Tanacetum, especially Tanacetum vulgare. The sunny afternoon was there, like another land. By the path grew tansy and little trees.
- A dish common in the seventeenth century, made of eggs, sugar, rose water, cream, and the juice of herbs (including tansy), baked with butter in a shallow dish. "Originally flavoured with tansy, but by Pepys's time generally having spinach as its predominant flavouring." I had a pretty dinner for them; viz., a brace of stewed carps, six roasted chickens, and a jowle of salmon, hot, for the first course; a tanzy and two neats' tongues, and cheese the second; and were very merry all the afternoon, talking and singing and piping upon the flageolette.
Tansy²
- /ˈtænzi/
Where it comes from
From the plant tansy. Probable doublet of Athanasia.
proper noun
- A female given name from English. (I love romantic folksy English names like Tansy and Violet, Ralph likes Mitfordesque names like Pamela and Daphne)
Translations
Talk about this word "tansy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tansy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. tansy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tansy "tansy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tansy.Cite this
@misc{tansy_2026,
title = {tansy},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tansy},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
