Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CRESS, n. [Fr. cresson; It. crescione; Arm. creçzon; D. kers; G. kresse; Sax. cærse or cressen. Qu. its alliance to grass, or to L. cresco.]

The name of several species of plants, most of them of the class Tetradynamia. Water-cresses, of the genus Sisymbrium, are used as a salad, and are valued in medicine for their antiscorbutic qualities. The leaves have a moderately pungent taste. They grow on the brinks of rivulets and in other moist grounds. The word is generally used in the plural.