chicory

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English cicoree,^[2][3][1] borrowed from Old French cicoree,^[2][1][4] also cichorée,^[5][3] from Medieval Latin cicorea, also cichorea,^[4][6][1] from Latin cichorium, cichorēum,^[5][2][7] from Ancient Greek κιχόρεια (kikhóreia) and κίχορα (kíkhora), neuter plurals meaning succory or endive.^[5][1] Etymonline and Barnhart call the Greek word of unknown or uncertain origin;^[7][3] Klein connected it with an Old Egyptian name of the plant.^[8][7] The modern form follows French chicorée:^[9][3][7] the OED notes that in 16th-century French cichorée was the main form and chicorée occasional, until grammarians condemned the former in 1668 and 1672.^[5] Dictionary.com explains the French spelling with “ch-” by the influence of Italian cicoria.^[10] In Anglo-Norman, cicoré is recorded from the second half of the 13th century, for chicory and also for marigold.^[11] The same Latin word, by a corrupt form, gave succory.^[12][4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The plant Cichorium intybus: before 1450, in Alphita, in the form cicoree.^[5][3] Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century,^[7] and Dictionary.com to 1350–1400.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The spelling chicory appears in 1605, under French influence, replacing cicoree;^[3][13] the OED says that chicory began to supersede cichory in the 17th and 18th centuries.^[5] The plant was grown for its leaves and roots, and in the 19th century the roasted, ground root came into use as an addition to or substitute for coffee: the OED's first record of this sense is from 1853,^[5] while the Shorter Oxford and Hoad date it to the early 19th century.^[4][6] In North America the name is also given to the endive, Cichorium endivia, or its leaves.^[4] Merriam-Webster Unabridged notes that the plant has escaped from cultivation and become a serious weed in parts of Australia and the United States.^[9]

Timeline

• before 1450 – the plant, as cicoree.^[5][3]
• 1605 – the spelling chicory.^[3][13]
• 1853 – the roasted, ground root, used with or instead of coffee.^[5] The Shorter Oxford dates this sense to the early 19th century.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A blue-flowered perennial herb (Cichorium intybus) of the composite family, grown for its leaves, eaten in salads, and for its roots: Wild chicory lined the country road.^[14][9][4]
2. The root of this plant, dried, roasted and ground, used to flavour or replace coffee.^[14][9][5]
3. (North America) The endive, or its leaves.^[4]

Related words

• succory
• endive

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins