What does thyme mean?
Word: Thyme
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Thyme means a small plant with tiny sweet-smelling leaves, used to add flavour to food.
Sounds like: time (what is measured in hours and minutes)
How do you spell thyme?
Syllables: thyme
Tricky part: It sounds exactly like time, but the vowel sound in the middle is spelt with a y.
Watch out for: thime, tyme, thym
Memory tip: Think of a tiny twig that forks like a y: that is the letter in the middle of this herb's name.
Thyme in a sentence
Example 1: Dad sprinkled fresh thyme over the roasted potatoes.
Example 2: The thyme in our balcony pot smells lovely after rain.
Example 3: Pick a few sprigs of thyme for the soup, please.
Fun Fact
Thyme belongs to the same plant family as mint, and bees are so fond of its flowers that thyme honey is sold as a speciality in Greece.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is correct. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. corriander 2. bazil 3. thyme 4. rosemery
a) a low herb whose very small leaves carry a strong scent
b) a shrub with needle-like leaves and a piney smell
c) a plant whose leaves and round seeds flavour curries
d) a herb with large soft leaves, often used in pesto
Show answer
a) a low herb whose very small leaves carry a strong scent. Basil has an s, rosemary an a and coriander a single r, which leaves the herb with the y.
Mingle-Mangle
The jumbled word in the sentence hides a real word. Choose it:
Mum crushed a little dried heytm into the tomato sauce.
a) rhyme
b) theme
c) thyme
d) thumb
Show answer
c) thyme. A t and a y together rule out the rest: theme has no y, thumb has no y and rhyme has no t.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
thymne
a) y
b) n
c) e
d) m
Show answer
b) n. Take away the n and the herb's name is left.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Grandma grows mint, parsley and tyhme in clay pots on her sunny kitchen windowsill and waters them every evening.
a) windowsill
b) parsley
c) tyhme
d) kitchen
Show answer
c) tyhme. The h belongs straight after the t.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Where in a house would you most likely find dried thyme?
a) in a box of school stationery
b) in a bag of football kit
c) in a drawer of spare batteries
d) in a jar on the kitchen shelf
Show answer
d) in a jar on the kitchen shelf
2. A shop sorts its shelves by type. Which item goes on the same shelf as dried thyme?
a) red lentils
b) dried oregano
c) brown sugar
d) roasted cashews
Show answer
b) dried oregano
