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cicely (SIS-uh-lee) - n., a European garden herb (Myrrhis odorata) with a fragrant aroma; any of several North American herbs (genus Osmorhiza) with a similar aroma.
The two cicelies are distantly related, both being in the parsley/umbellifer family. The European one (also called sweet cicely, garden myrrh, and sweet chervil) is used in cookery, having a taste similar to anise and fennel -- and so, like those, is also used to flavor akvavit. The American ones (also also called sweet cicely, as well as sweetroot, plus several species have specific names) are mostly only used medicinally. The name was respelled in the 1590s under the influence of the proper name Cicely (an alternate spelling Cecily, a form of Cecilia) from earlier seseli, from Latin seselis, from Ancient Greek séselis, which originally was the name for hartwort -- I haven't tracked down when the name got reapplied to our plant. The European one:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
The two cicelies are distantly related, both being in the parsley/umbellifer family. The European one (also called sweet cicely, garden myrrh, and sweet chervil) is used in cookery, having a taste similar to anise and fennel -- and so, like those, is also used to flavor akvavit. The American ones (also also called sweet cicely, as well as sweetroot, plus several species have specific names) are mostly only used medicinally. The name was respelled in the 1590s under the influence of the proper name Cicely (an alternate spelling Cecily, a form of Cecilia) from earlier seseli, from Latin seselis, from Ancient Greek séselis, which originally was the name for hartwort -- I haven't tracked down when the name got reapplied to our plant. The European one:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
