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fennel love

fennel

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A Eurasian plant (Foeniculum vulgare) in the parsley family, having pinnate leaves and clusters of small yellow flowers grouped in umbels, cultivated for its aromatic seeds and edible stalks.
  • noun The seeds or stalks of this plant.
  • noun A variety of fennel whose seeds are used as flavoring.
  • noun A variety of fennel whose bulbous, celerylike stalks are eaten as a vegetable.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An aromatic umbelliferous plant, Fœniculum vulgare, a native of southern Europe and common in cultivation.
  • noun A name of certain plants of other genera. See below.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A perennial plant of the genus Fæniculum (Fæniculum vulgare), having very finely divided leaves. It is cultivated in gardens for the agreeable aromatic flavor of its seeds.
  • noun (Fæniculum dulce). It is a smaller and stouter plant than the common fennel, and is used as a pot herb.
  • noun (Anthemis Cotula), a foul-smelling European weed; -- called also mayweed.
  • noun (Bot.) an herb (Nigella) of the Buttercup family, having leaves finely divided, like those of the fennel. Nigella Damascena is common in gardens. Nigella sativa furnishes the fennel seed, used as a condiment, etc., in India. These seeds are the “fitches” mentioned in Isaiah (xxviii. 25).
  • noun (Med.) the distilled water of fennel seed. It is stimulant and carminative.
  • noun (Ferula communis), has stems full of pith, which, it is said, were used to carry fire, first, by Prometheus.
  • noun a European plant (Peucedanum officinale) looking something like fennel.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A plant, Foeniculum vulgare, of the parsley family.
  • noun The bulb, leaves, or stalks of the plant, eaten as a vegetable.
  • noun The seeds of the fennel plant used as a spice in cooking.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun aromatic bulbous stem base eaten cooked or raw in salads
  • noun any of several aromatic herbs having edible seeds and leaves and stems
  • noun fennel seeds are ground and used as a spice or as an ingredient of a spice mixture
  • noun leaves used for seasoning

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English fenel, from Old English fenol, from Latin fēnuculum, variant of faeniculum, diminutive of faenum, fēnum, hay; see dhē(i)- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the Middle English fenel, from the Old English finuᵹl, finule (weak feminine forms); fenol, finul (masculine forms), from the Vulgar Latin fēnuclum, fēnoclum, fenuculum, from the Classical Latin faeniculum, a diminutive form of faenum ("hay"); compare the Italian finocchio, the Occitan fenolh, the Old French fenoil (whence the Modern French fenouil), and the Spanish hinojo.

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Examples

  • I have tried telling her that she might want to call it "fennel", but to no avail.

    Farmbox VIII: Fennel: Two for One Lindy 2005

  • It makes sense the Spaniards would have brought in fennel as it is widely used around the mediterranean.

    Eneldo 2009

  • Hmm. The plant that we would call fennel is called anisillo (at least here in Michoacán).

    Eneldo 2009

  • It makes sense the Spaniards would have brought in fennel as it is widely used around the mediterranean.

    Eneldo 2009

  • It makes sense the Spaniards would have brought in fennel as it is widely used around the mediterranean.

    Eneldo 2009

  • Hmm. The plant that we would call fennel is called anisillo (at least here in Michoacán).

    Eneldo 2009

  • Cook, stirring frequently, until the fennel is golden brown and almost done.

    Farmers' Market Foray aka TBTAM 2009

  • It makes sense the Spaniards would have brought in fennel as it is widely used around the mediterranean.

    Eneldo 2009

  • Cover, reduce the heat and simmer until the fennel is tender.

    Farmers' Market Foray aka TBTAM 2009

  • Hmm. The plant that we would call fennel is called anisillo (at least here in Michoacán).

    Eneldo 2009

Comments

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  • treeseed commented on the word fennel

    Fennel stalks are tools used by the forces of Good/Light (Benandanti) in the mythology (and practice) of Italian witchcraft or Strega in their "night battles" against the forces of Evil/Darkness (Malandanti) who use sorghum stalks, for control of the crops at the solstices.

    Prometheus smuggled fire from the Gods to humanity inside a giant fennel stalk

    February 23, 2008

  • ruzuzu commented on the word fennel

    "The Greek name for fennel is marathon (μάραθον) or marathos (μάραθος), and the place of the famous battle of Marathon (whence Marathon, the subsequent sports event), literally means a plain with fennels."

    -- from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fennel&oldid=645159327)

    February 18, 2015

  • chained_bear commented on the word fennel

    Usage/historical note on sacrament.

    December 6, 2016