# Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)

**Thymum*; Greek *thymon**

**Known today as.** *Thymus vulgaris* and wild thyme, *T. serpyllum*.

Kind: Plant  
Qualities: Hot and dry (Galenic tradition).

## What was it used for?

Warming and drying: for coughs, the stomach, and worms; burnt to cleanse the air of rooms.

## What does modern science say?

Thymol, from its oil, is a true antiseptic and is still used in mouthwashes.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **thymol**: 
- **carvacrol**: 

**Mechanism.** Thymol disrupts bacterial and fungal membranes; it was the antiseptic of Lister’s successors and is in mouthwashes still.

**Dose.** The oil irritates; the herb is a food.

**Standing.** Thyme is in the European monographs for coughs; thymol in the mouthwash Listerine since 1879.

## What lore surrounds it?

Medieval ladies are said to have embroidered a sprig of thyme onto a chosen knight’s scarf or tunic to lend him courage, echoing a Greek custom of adding thyme to the bath before battle; braided into the hair it was thought to give boldness in love. Banks of thyme were held to be where the fairies danced, the belief behind Oberon’s line in *A Midsummer Night’s Dream*: “I know a bank where the wild thyme blows.”

## What did the older authorities say?

**Pliny.** Says that thyme, burned, drives away every venomous creature.

## Sources

- Pliny, *Natural History* XXI.
- Dioscorides, *De materia medica*.
- Icy Sedgwick, on thyme folklore.
- Grieve, M. *A Modern Herbal*, “Thyme, Garden.” As published on botanical.com.
- European Medicines Agency (2013). *Community herbal monograph on Thymus vulgaris*.

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*Thyme.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-09-25. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/thyme

Historical description, not medical advice.