celery

celery
celery (n.) 1660s, from Fr. céleri (17c., originally sceleri d'Italie), from Italian (Lombard dialect) seleri (singular selero), from L.L. selinon, from Gk. selinon "parsley."
[O]ne day, in a weak and hungry moment, my roommate and I succumbed to a bit of larceny. A greengrocer's truck had parked down the street and was left unattended. We grabbed the first crate we could off the back. It turned out to be celery. For two days we ate nothing but celery and used up more calories chewing than we realized in energy. "Damn it," I said to my roommate, "What're we going to do? We can't starve." "That's funny," he replied. "I thought we could." [Chuck Jones, "Chuck Amuck," 1989]

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Celery — Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked) …   Wikipedia

  • Celery — Cel er*y, n. [F. c[ e]leri, cf. Prov. It. seleno, seler; fr. Gr. ? parsley, in Lgr. & NGr. celery. Cf. {Parsley}.] (Bot.) A plant of the Parsley family ({Apium graveolens}), of which the blanched leafstalks are used as a salad. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • celery — ► NOUN ▪ a garden plant with crisp juicy stalks, used in salads or as a vegetable. ORIGIN French céleri, from Greek selinon parsley …   English terms dictionary

  • celery — [sel′ər ē, sel′rē] n. [Fr céleri < It seleri < L selinon < Gr, parsley] a biennial plant (Apium graveolens var. dulce) of the umbel family, whose long, crisp leafstalks are eaten as a vegetable …   English World dictionary

  • celery — /sel euh ree, sel ree/, n. a plant, Apium graveolens, of the parsley family, whose leafstalks are eaten raw or cooked. [1655 65; < F céleri < It seleri, pl. of selero Gk sélinon parsley] * * * Herb (Apium graveolens) of the parsley family, native …   Universalium

  • celery — noun … OF CELERY ▪ stalk (AmE), stick (esp. BrE) VERB + CELERY ▪ cook, prepare ▪ chop, dice, slice …   Collocations dictionary

  • celery — n. 1) crisp celery 2) a bunch of celery * * * [ selərɪ] a bunch of celery crisp celery …   Combinatory dictionary

  • celery — [17] Celery comes ultimately from Greek sélīnon, which signified ‘parsley’ – like the celery, a plant of the group Umbelliferae (the English word parsley comes from Greek petrōselínon, literally ‘rock parsley’). It came into English via Latin… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • celery — [17] Celery comes ultimately from Greek sélīnon, which signified ‘parsley’ – like the celery, a plant of the group Umbelliferae (the English word parsley comes from Greek petrōselínon, literally ‘rock parsley’). It came into English via Latin… …   Word origins

  • celery — [[t]se̱ləri[/t]] N UNCOUNT Celery is a vegetable with long pale green stalks. It is eaten raw in salads. ...a stick of celery …   English dictionary

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