English

riverweed

From river + weed.

A compound of river + weed

Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- ‘to scratch, tear’

…

Latin rīpārius ‘of a riverbank’

Early Medieval Latin rīpāria ‘littoral, riverbank’

Anglo-Norman riviere

Middle English ryver ‘a river’

English river

Proto-West Germanic *weud

Old English wēod

Middle English weed

English weed

Today it means

noun Any of the family Podostemaceae of aquatic herbs.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / riverweed