Celery
/ˈsɛl.ə.ri/noun
A plant of the parsley family whose crisp stalks and leaves are eaten as a vegetable.
Did you know?The English word comes through French and Italian from Greek selinon, the same plant-name used in antiquity, and it was once associated with funerary wreaths in the ancient Mediterranean.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sel-
“A root connected to marshy or watery growth, likely behind an old plant-name family.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
σέλινον (selinon)
“Celery or parsley-like plants, especially wild celery.”
Late Latin
Latin
selinon
“Borrowed plant name for celery or parsley.”
Old French
French
celer(i)
“Celery, the edible plant.”
16th Century
English
celerie
“An edible stalk vegetable, introduced into English from French forms.”
Modern English
English
celery
“The familiar cultivated vegetable with crisp stalks.”