yerba

English

A yerba bush

Etymology

From Spanish yerba. Doublet of herb.

Noun

yerba (usually uncountable, plural yerbas)

1. Ilex paraguariensis, a species of holly native to southern South America; or the dried leaves and twigs of this plant, used to make the caffeine-rich beverage maté.
   • 1839, Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle‎^[1]:

     The storehouses at Talcahuano had been burst open, and great bags of cotton, yerba, and other valuable merchandise were scattered on the shore.

   • 1854, P. L. Simmonds, The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom‎^[2]:

     This was the place at which the leaves and small sprigs of the yerba tree, when brought from the woods, were first scorched--fire being set to the logs of wood within it.

   • 1910, Various, Argentina From A British Point Of View‎^[3]:

     His preparations for breakfast are simple, and he is ready to start out after half an hour spent in imbibing a few mates full of yerba infusion.

Related terms

• yerba mate
• yerba santa

Further reading

• Yerba mate on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Ilex paraguariensis on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

Anagrams

• Bayer, Beary, Earby, Yebra, barye, bayer, beary, beray, by ear

Aragonese

Etymology

Inherited from Latin herba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝeɾba/
• Syllabification: yer‧ba
• Rhymes: -eɾba

Noun

yerba f (plural yerbas)

1. grass

Derived terms

• yerba d'a manantía (“common fleabane”)
• yerba d'as cardelinas (“groundsel”)
• yerba luisa (“lemon verbena”)
• yerba negra (“black nightshade”)

References

• “hierba”, in Aragonario, diccionario castellano–aragonés (in Spanish)
• Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002), “yerba”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, →ISBN

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin herba.

Noun

yerba f (plural yerbes)

1. grass

Istriot

Alternative forms

• gièrba

Etymology

From Latin herba.

Noun

yerba f

1. grass

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Spanish yerba and hierba.

Noun

yerba

1. grass
2. herb

Spanish

FWOTD – 16 September 2022

Etymology

See hierba.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝeɾba/ [ˈɟ͡ʝeɾ.β̞a]

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝeɾba/ [ˈɟ͡ʝeɾ.β̞a] (everywhere but Argentina and Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /ˈʃeɾba/ [ˈʃeɾ.β̞a] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /ˈʒeɾba/ [ˈʒeɾ.β̞a] (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

• Rhymes: -eɾba
• Syllabification: yer‧ba
• Homophones: hierba, hierva (not in Rioplatense)

Noun

yerba f (plural yerbas)

1. alternative form of hierba (“grass”)
   • 1605, Miguel de Cervantes, chapter XX, in El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha [ The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha], Primera parte, Madrid: Imprenta de Juan de la Cuesta:

     No es posible, señor mío, sino que estas yerbas dan testimonio de que por aquí cerca debe de estar alguna fuente o arroyo que estas yerbas humedece;

     It cannot be, my lord, but that this grass gives proof that there must be nearby some spring or brook to give it moisture;

2. alternative form of hierba (“slang: marijuana”)
   • 2025 November 4, Fabián Evaristo, “Avanza orden en puntos 420 de la CDMX; aún se vende cannabis”, in El Universal‎^[4]:

     El colectivo feminista mantiene una mesa de información donde pueden vender productos derivados de la marihuana como parte de la “protesta económica”, pero ya no se permite el consumo de yerba en el lugar.

     The feminist collective has an information table where they can sell products derived from marijuana as part of the "economic protest", but the consumption of weed is no longer allowed at the location.

3. yerba (Ilex paraguariensis)
4. tarantula

   Synonym: tarántula

Derived terms

• enyerbar
• yerba buena
• yerba del manso
• yerba dulce
• yerba mansa
• yerba mate
• yerba porosa
• yerboso

Further reading

• “yerba”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025