coriander

Origin

From Middle English coriandre, from Anglo-Norman coriandre, from Old French corïandre, from Latin coriandrum, from Ancient Greek κορίανδρον (koríandron), of uncertain origin. Doublet of cilantro. cognates, etc. Compare Ancient Greek κορίαννον (koríannon), κορίαμβλον (koríamblon), Mycenaean Greek 𐀒𐀪𐁀𐀅𐀙 (ko-ri-a2-da-na), 𐀒𐀪𐀊𐀅𐀙 (ko-ri-ja-da-na), 𐀒𐀪𐀊𐀈𐀜 (ko-ri-ja-do-no), 𐀒𐀪𐀍𐀅𐀙 (ko-ri-jo-da-na), Akkadian 𒌑𒄷𒌷𒌝 (^úḫurium) Aramaic כסברה (kusbara, “coriander”), Classical Syriac ܟܽܘܣܒܰܪܬܳܐ (kūsbartā, “coriander”) and Arabic كُزْبَرَة (kuzbara). Beekes supposes that cluster -dn- implies a Pre-Greek word, and hypothesizes that *koriaⁿdro- may have dissimilated to *koriaⁿdno-.