Where does “scratchweed” come from?

scratchweed (English) comes from English weed, from Middle English weed, from Old English wēod, from Proto-West Germanic *weud — weed (unwanted plant).

scratchweed (English): cleavers

Definitions

  1. cleavers

Ancestry of “scratchweed”, step by step

scratchweed traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English weed

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishweedAny plant regarded as unwanted at the place...
2Middle Englishweed—
3Old Englishwēodweed
4Proto-West Germanic*weudweed (unwanted plant)

via English Scratch

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishScratchA free educational visual programming language and a programming site developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab
2Middle Englishscrattento scratch
Every word from Proto-West Germanic *weud →Every word from Old English wēod →Every word from Middle English weed →
scratchweed — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer