Stachys officinalis is commonly known as common hedgenettle, betony, purple betony, wood betony, bishopwort, or bishop's wort. The French common name is betoine, and betonie in German. It is a perennial grassland herb growing to 1 to 2 feet tall.

Pliny (25, 8, 46, § 84) calls the plant both betonica and vettonica, claiming that the Vettones used it as a herbal medicine. The word stachys comes from the Greek, meaning "an ear of grain," and refers to the fact that the inflorescence is often a spike.