Meaning & use
verbena
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountablebiology
A garden plant with small flowers in dense clusters, often purple, pink or red.
Grammar: Countable for plants (three verbenas), uncountable as a type.
Patterns
- a verbena in the border
She planted verbena in the front border.
The verbena attracts butterflies all summer.
Pink verbenas lined the garden path.
noununcountable
A fragrant lemon-scented herb, often called lemon verbena, used in tea and perfume.
Grammar: Uncountable when used for flavor: verbena tea.
Patterns
- verbena tea
- lemon verbena
He made a pot of verbena tea after dinner.
The soap smelled faintly of verbena.
Lemon verbena grows well in a sunny pot.
Word forms
| plural | verbenas |
|---|
Common combinations
- lemon verbena
- Lemon verbena makes a calming tea.
- verbena tea
- Verbena tea is popular in France.
- verbena oil
- Verbena oil is used in some perfumes.
- purple verbena
- Purple verbena covered the wall.
Synonyms and how they differ
- vervain
- Vervain is the older name for the wild European species, while verbena is the usual garden word.
- lemon balm
- Lemon balm is a different plant with a similar scent, so it is not a true synonym.
- herb
- Herb is the broad category, while verbena names one specific plant.
Word family
- verbenaceae noun
- the plant family containing verbena
- vervain noun
- a related wild plant
- verbena-scented adjective
- smelling of verbena
Commonly confused: verbena or verbiage? verbena or begonia?
verbena vs verbiage
Verbiage means wordy language; verbena is a plant.
verbena vs begonia
Begonia is a different flowering plant with fleshy stems and bigger petals.
Practice
Which would you most likely drink as a calming tea?
Choose one answer.
Lemon verbena leaves are used for a gentle herbal tea. Vermouth is a drink but is an alcoholic wine, not a tea.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “verbena”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.