Sarsaparilla
/ˌsɑːrsəpəˈrɪlə/noun
A climbing tropical American vine whose roots were once used medicinally, or a drink flavored with its root.
Did you know?Sarsaparilla entered English through Spanish from a Caribbean/Latin American plant name, and for centuries its root was sold as a supposed purifier and cure-all in apothecaries and patent medicines.
Etymological Timeline
16th Century
Spanish
zarzaparrilla
“The sarsaparilla plant; literally the plant name used in Spanish for the medicinal vine.”
16th Century
Portuguese
salsaparrilha
“A form of the same plant name in Portuguese, used for the medicinal root.”
16th Century
American Spanish / Indigenous source
sarsa / parrilla
“The name was applied by Spanish speakers in the Americas to a thorny climbing plant; the exact deeper origin is uncertain.”
Early 17th Century
English
sarsaparilla
“The plant, especially its root, imported as a medicinal ingredient.”
19th Century
English
sarsaparilla
“A soft drink flavored with or named after the root.”