sorghum

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin Sorghum, the genus name,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Italian sorgo (“a tall cereal grass”).^[2][3][5][7] The Italian word is probably from Medieval Latin surgum, also suricum (12th century),^[3][5][8] perhaps a variant of Latin Syricum, the neuter of Syricus (“Syrian”), from Syria, so that it was the "Syrian grass" or "Syrian grain".^[5][3][4][9] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Collins assume Vulgar Latin *Syricum grānum.^[6][10] Etymonline suggests that Syria could have been the source of the plant or its grain for Italy in ancient times, though the crop seems to have originated in East Africa.^[3] The OED, under the related sorgo, calls the Italian and Medieval Latin forms of unknown origin.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The cereal plant known as Indian millet or Guinea corn: 1597, in Gerard's Herball.^[2][6][4]

Semantic evolution

From the 19th century the name covered the Chinese sugar cane, or sweet sorghum (1859),^[2][7] the whole genus of grasses (1842),^[2] and in the United States a molasses made from the plant's juice (1883).^[2] In South Africa, after names like "kaffir corn" were replaced by "sorghum", the word was turned into a racist term for a black person, recorded in 1978.^[11]

Timeline

• 1597 – the cereal plant called Indian millet.^[2][6][4]
• 1842 – a genus of grasses including it.^[2]
• 1859 – the Chinese sugar cane, sweet sorghum.^[2]
• 1883 – in the United States, a syrup made from sorghum juice.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tall cereal grass of the Old World genus Sorghum, like maize in growth, grown for grain, fodder and syrup.^[10][6][9]
2. Sweet sorghum, a variety grown for the sugary juice of its stems.^[2][7]
3. In the United States, a syrup or molasses made from sorghum juice.^[2]

Word family

• sweet sorghum

Related words

• sorgo

References

1. ^ 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 e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com