coriander

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English coriandre, also coriaundre,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French coriandre,^{[6][2][7][8][9]} from Latin coriandrum,^[6][9][7][4] from Ancient Greek κορίαννον (koríannon), also κορίανδρον (koríandron).^{[9][6][10][7]} The Anglo-Norman form coriandre is recorded from about 1250.^[11] The Greek word is already found as Mycenaean Greek ko-ri-ja-do-no.^[12] Its origin is uncertain: the OED calls it apparently a foreign word,^[9] Barnhart perhaps Mediterranean,^[6] and Beekes takes the consonant cluster dn of the Mycenaean form as a sign of a Pre-Greek word.^[12] An old explanation, often given by botanists, connects it with Ancient Greek κόρις (kóris, “bedbug”), from the smell of the unripe fruit;^[4][3][10] Etymonline suggests that a non-Indo-European word may have been reshaped after the insect's name.^[4] An early popular Latin variant, Vulgar Latin coliandrum, gave Old English cellendre, Old High German chullantar and Old French coliandre, the source of the earlier English coliander.^[9][13] The same Latin variant is the source of Spanish culantro and cilantro, which English borrowed as cilantro.^[9][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The plant Coriandrum sativum: Barnhart dates the word to 1373,^[6] the OED's first quotation is from Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, before 1398,^[9] and Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word has always named the plant and its aromatic fruit, used as a spice.^[9][6] In 1551 William Turner used coriander by itself for the seed,^[9] and the Shorter Oxford also records the word for the leaves of the plant.^[8] Johnson (1755) described the plant botanically, with its broad lower leaves, finely cut upper leaves and two hemispherical seeds.^[14] In 18th-century slang, coriander, short for coriander-seed, meant coins or money, from 1737 to 1801.^[9][15]

Timeline

• 1373 – the plant Coriandrum sativum.^[6] The OED's first quotation is from before 1398.^[9]
• 1551 – the seed of the plant (obsolete).^[9][15]
• 1737 – slang, coins, money (obsolete by 1801).^[9][15]

Meanings

Noun

1. An Old World plant of the parsley family, Coriandrum sativum, grown for its aromatic fruits and leaves.^[3][16][9]
2. The dried ripe fruit of this plant, coriander seed, used as a spice in curries, pickles and sweets: Grind the coriander with the cumin.^[3][8]
3. The leaves of this plant used as a herb; cilantro.^[8][16]

Related words

• cilantro

Usage notes

In the United States and Canada the leaves are usually called cilantro.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
16. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins