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skirret (SKIR-it) - n., a perennial umbellifer (Sium sisarum) of Eurasia (originally east Asia) cultivated for its cluster of tuberous, sweetish, edible roots.
Not as cultivated in Europe as commonly it once was, apparently, and I can't say I've ever seen it here in the States -- nor tasted it. The etymology is something of a muddle. The Middle English form of the name was skirwhite, where the last part is either white or was taken to be so by folk etymology -- the Old French name was eschervi, and this might be from that or from Old English roots skir(e), pure/bright + white. If eschervi, that's obscure too, but it can be dubiously traced via Arabic from Greek karÅ, caraway, which is not the same thing at all.
---L.
Not as cultivated in Europe as commonly it once was, apparently, and I can't say I've ever seen it here in the States -- nor tasted it. The etymology is something of a muddle. The Middle English form of the name was skirwhite, where the last part is either white or was taken to be so by folk etymology -- the Old French name was eschervi, and this might be from that or from Old English roots skir(e), pure/bright + white. If eschervi, that's obscure too, but it can be dubiously traced via Arabic from Greek karÅ, caraway, which is not the same thing at all.
---L.
