horehound
UK[ˈhɔː.haʊnd]US[ˈhɔːr.haʊnd]
n
A bitter aromatic plant of the mint family, with downy leaves, used in herbal medicine and formerly in candy.
n
A candy or preparation, especially a cough drop, flavored with the extract of this plant.
Etymology
The word 'horehound' originates from the Old English term 'hāre hūne', where 'hāre' meant "hoary" or "grey-white" and 'hūne' was the name for the plant. This Old English compound described the plant's distinctive white, downy leaves. The term passed into Middle English as 'horhune', with the modern spelling 'horehound' emerging by the 14th century, influenced by an association with the word 'hound'. This etymological journey transformed a literal description of the plant's appearance into its fixed modern name, obscuring the original transparent compound structure.
Analysis
The word is a simplex form. It is a loanword from Old English, where it was a compound, but its modern spelling and pronunciation do not support a transparent segmentation into meaningful substrings for a learner.
Examples
Horehound tea is a traditional remedy for coughs and sore throats.
The old-fashioned candy shop sold horehound drops.
The grey-green leaves of the horehound plant are covered in soft hairs.