Where does “fennel” come from?
Fennel comes from Middle English fenel, from Old English finuðl, from Old French fenoil, from Late Latin fenuculum, ultimately from Latin fenum meaning hay, with the diminutive suffix -culus.
fennel (English): A plant, "Foeniculum vulgare", of the parsley...
Definitions
- A plant, "Foeniculum vulgare", of the parsley...
Ancestry of “fennel”, step by step
fennel traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English fenel
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | fenel | fennel |
| 2 | Old English | fenol | — |
| 3 | Old French | fenoil | fennel |
| 4 | Vulgar Latin | fenuclum | — |
| 5 | Latin | fēnuculum | fennel |
| 6 | Latin | fēnum | hay |
| 7 | Latin | faenum | hay; any dried plant; fenugreek |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰeh₁(y)- | to suckle, nurse |
via Hungarian fen
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hungarian | fen | to sharpen, to whet, to hone; to rub, to smear;... |
| 2 | Hungarian | fenn | Alternative form of fent; above |
| 3 | Hungarian | fél | to fear, to be afraid of something; to fear... |
| 4 | Proto-Uralic | pide | tall |
| 5 | Finnish | pitää | to hold, grasp, grip; to keep, take; to like, be... |
| 6 | Proto-Finnic | pitädäk | to hold, to grasp; to keep |
| 7 | Proto-Finno-Ugric | pitä- | — |