Etymology Dictionary

YARROW,  the plant milfoil.  (E.)   M. E. ȝarowe, ȝarwe; Prompt. Parv. p. 536.—A. S. gæruwe, gearuwe, explained by 'millefolium;' Wright's Gloss., i. 30, col. 2; i. 67, col. 2; spelt gearwe, id. i. 289, col. I. + G. garbe; M. H. G. garbe, garwe, O. H. G. garba, karpa.   β. The lit. sense of A. S. gearuwe is 'that which prepares or sets in order,' from gearwian, to prepare, gerwan, to dress; we must here translate it by 'healer.'   The reference is to the old belief in the curative properties of the yarrow, which was supposed to be a great remedy for wounds; in Cockayne's A. S. Leechdoms, i. 195, we are told that Achilles was the first person who applied it to the cure of sword-wounds; hence, indeed, its botanical name of Achillea millefolium.   γ. Again, the verb gearwian is a derivative from the adj. gearo, ready, yare; see Yare.   Thus yarrow = that which makes yare.   The G. garbe may be explained in a precisely similar way; cf. G. gerben, to tan, dress leather.