spikenard

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English spikenard, also spikenarde and spicanard,^[2] borrowed from Medieval Latin spīca nardī (“ear of nard”),^{[3][4][5][6][7]} formed from Latin spīca (“ear of grain, spike”) and nardī (“of nard”).^[8][5][9] The Latin phrase renders Ancient Greek νάρδου στάχυς (nárdou stákhus), also ναρδόσταχυς (nardóstakhus).^{[3][4][10][9]} Several dictionaries also bring in Old French spicanarde as a second source,^[4][5][9][2] and the OED allows it as a partial model;^[3] the Anglo-Norman form is recorded from the second half of the 12th century.^[11] Hoad and the Shorter Oxford add Middle Low German spīkenard and Middle Dutch spīkenaerde as possible immediate sources.^[12][10] The Greek noun is itself a loan, from a Semitic language according to Barnhart and Etymonline.^[5][4] Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary trace it ultimately to the Sanskrit name of the plant,^[4][8] whereas Klein holds that this name may be a Sanskritization of the Greek.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The aromatic substance used for a costly ointment: the Middle English Dictionary's first quotation, about 1300 in the South English Legendary, says "þat oygnement was of spikenard";^[2] the OED's first record is from about 1350,^[3] and Barnhart dates the word to about 1280.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The Wycliffite Bible of about 1384 has Mary take "a pound of oynement spikenard".^[2] In medieval use it was also a herb of remedies and recipes.^[2] From 1548, in W. Turner's Names of Herbes, it names the plant that yields the substance,^[3][5] which the OED now identifies as the North Indian Nardostachys jatamansi.^[3][9] The name then spread to other fragrant plants: lavender from 1563 to 1736, valerian from 1688, and the wild Inula conyza from 1597.^[3] Johnson (1755) distinguished Indian, Celtic and mountain spikenard.^[13] In North America it has meant Aralia racemosa since 1829.^[3][9] English dialects applied it to lavender in Wiltshire, to stone parsley in Hampshire and to fleawort in Yorkshire.^[14]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – an aromatic substance used for a costly ointment.^[2] The OED's first record is from about 1350.^[3]
• 1548 – the plant that yields it.^[3][5]
• 1563 – lavender (until 1736).^[3]
• 1597 – the wild plant Inula conyza.^[3]
• 1688 – valerian.^[3]
• 1829 – a North American plant.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A costly fragrant ointment, prized as a perfume in ancient times; also called nard.^[9][15][3]
2. The Indian plant Nardostachys jatamansi, of the valerian family, from which the ointment was believed to come.^[9][15][3]
3. A North American herb, Aralia racemosa, with an aromatic root.^[9][15][10]
4. Any of various other plants with a similar scent.^[15][10]
5. Lavender (obsolete, 1563–1736; later dialect).^[3][10][14]

Related words

• nard
• spike

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
15. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins