fennel

Meaning

Noun

• A plant, Foeniculum vulgare, of the parsley family, which has a sweet, anise-like flavor.
• The bulb, leaves, or stalks of the plant, eaten as a vegetable.
• The seeds of the fennel plant used as a spice in cooking.

Related

Similar words

• sweet anise

Origin

• From the Middle English fenel, from the late Old English finugl, finule (weak feminine forms); fenol, finul (masculine forms), from Old French fenoil, from the Vulgar Latin, fēnoclum, from Late Latin fēnuculum, from the Classical Latin faeniculum, a diminutive form of faenum; compare the Italian finocchio, the Occitan fenolh, the French fenouil, and the Spanish hinojo. finocchio.