sorrel
pronunciation
How to pronounce sorrel in British English:
UK [ˈsɒrəl]
How to pronounce sorrel in American English:
US [ˈsɔrəl]
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- Noun:
- any plant or flower of the genus Oxalis
- any of certain coarse weedy plants with long taproots, sometimes used as table greens or in folk medicine
- East Indian sparsely prickly annual herb or perennial subshrub widely cultivated for its fleshy calyxes used in tarts and jelly and for its bast fiber
- large sour-tasting arrowhead-shaped leaves used in salads and sauces
- a horse of a brownish orange to light brown color
-
- Adjective:
- of a light brownish color
Word Origin
- sorrel
- sorrel: see sour
- sorrel (adj.)
- "reddish brown," especially of horses, mid-14c., from Old French sorel, from sor "yellowish-brown," probably from Frankish *saur "dry," or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *sauza- (cognates: Middle Dutch soor "dry," Old High German soren "to become dry," Old English sear "withered, barren;" see sere). Perhaps a diminutive form in French.
- sorrel (n.)
- small perennial plant, late 14c., from Old French surele (12c., Modern French surelle), from sur "sour," from Frankish *sur or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *sura- "sour" (cognates: Old High German, Old English sur "sour;" see sour (adj.)). So called for the taste of its leaves.
Example
- 1. Yoghurt , beetroot , apple and sorrel for pudding , anyone ?
- 2. I guess I should have picked some more sorrel .
- 3. Sally stiller saddled six sorrel stallions .
- 4. Oxalic acid : colourless , crystalline , toxic carboxylic acid found in many plants , especially rhubarb , wood sorrel , and spinach .
- 5. I could identify ink caps , puff balls and field mushrooms and knew where to find wild watercress and sorrel .