epazote

noun

ep·​a·​zote ˈe-pə-ˌzōt 

: wormseed sense b

also : the fresh or dried pungent-smelling leaves of wormseed used especially in Mexican cooking

Examples of epazote in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Dishes are flavored with epazote, sage, mint, cota, and wild parsley and seasoned with native chilies and, most important, salt that the Pueblo people traditionally harvested from the Zuni Salt Lake and the Estancia Valley, both in New Mexico. —Michael Shaikh june 25, Literary Hub, 25 June 2025

There are a couple of warm plates, like a butterflied and grilled red snapper topped with red and green sauces and accompanied with black beans and arugula salad (market price) and a shrimp stew with chayote squash, epazote and warm tortillas ($19). —John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 6 Feb. 2025

This recipe also features aromatic epazote, an indigenous Mesoamerican herb used to season many Mexican dishes. —Obed Vallejo, Saveur, 28 Mar. 2024

Native tomatoes, chile de árbol and epazote (a pungent herb) lift a pork tamal. —Elisabeth Malkin, New York Times, 23 Nov. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Mexican Spanish, from Nahuatl epazōtl

First Known Use

1848, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for epazote

• anecdote
• antidote
• asymptote
• creosote
• dimethoate
• epidote
• ferryboat
• motorboat
• overcoat
• petticoat
• riverboat
• undercoat