oregano

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish orégano (“wild marjoram”),^[2][3][4][5] or its American Spanish use,^[6][7][8][9] from Latin orīganum,^[2][3][4] also orīganus,^[6][2] from Ancient Greek ὀρίγανον (oríganon).^[2][3][4] The Spanish word is recorded from 1490; compare Italian origano, from before 1320.^[2] Etymonline analyses the Greek as ὄρος (óros, “mountain”) and γάνος (gános, “brightness, ornament”).^[6] The OED notes that manuscripts often spell it ὀρείγανος (oreíganos), as if "on the mountain" and "brightness, joy", but takes it as probably a loanword, since the plant comes from Africa;^[2] Barnhart calls it a word of Mediterranean origin.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wild marjoram, or its dried leaves: 1771 in the 1989 edition of the OED, in Barnhart, Etymonline and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate.^{[10][4][6][8]} The revised OED (2004) has no record before 1889, when the word named an American shrub, Mexican oregano.^[2]

Semantic evolution

English already had names for wild marjoram from the Latin word: origanum, from before 1398 in the OED,^[2] and origan and organy, which oregano has largely displaced;^[4][6] Etymonline finds late Old English organe.^[6] In Spanish the word means wild marjoram, and in Mexico it was also used, often as orégano mexicano, for tropical American shrubs of the genus Lippia.^[2] English followed both uses: in Europe the name is for the dried leaves of wild marjoram, and in the American southwest for a different, more pungent shrub, Mexican oregano.^[6][2][7] Etymonline says the herb's popularity in the United States dates from the Second World War and seems to coincide with that of pizza; a 1957 American food-industry publication called it "a spice that was unheard of in 99 out of 100 households just a few years ago".^[6]

Timeline

• 1771 – wild marjoram, or its dried leaves used as a seasoning.^{[10][4][6][8]}
• 1889 – Mexican oregano, a tropical American shrub of the genus Lippia, or its leaves.^[2]
• 1959 – any herb of the genus Origanum, especially wild marjoram, or its leaves.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bushy perennial herb of the mint family, Origanum vulgare, also called wild marjoram, with aromatic leaves.^[3][8][9]
2. The dried, often powdered leaves of this plant, used to season food: She sprinkled oregano over the tomatoes.^[9][7]
3. Any of several American shrubs of the genus Lippia, especially Mexican oregano, whose leaves are used in the same way.^[2][8][7]

Related words

• origanum
• origan

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press