Names, Histories and Statistics. 191 



Derivation of the Names of Fruits and Vegetables, continued. 



Chervil. — Anglo-Saxon, cerftlle. indirectly from a Greek combina- 

 tion signifying " pleasant-leaf." 

 Chives or Cives. — Latin, cepa, onion. 

 Corn. — Anglo-Saxon, corn . 

 Cress. — Old German, kresan, to creep. 

 Cucumber. — Latin, cucumis. 



Egg-plant. — From the egg-shaped fruit of some varieties. 

 Endive.— French, endive, indirectly from the Latin intubus. the 



endive or chicoiy. 

 Garlic. — Anglo-Saxon, gar and leak, spear-leaf, referring to the 



shape and position of the leaves. 

 Gumbo. — Portuguese, quingombo, from quillobo, an African name. 

 Horse-radish.— Refers, evidently, to the strong and pungent 



character of the roots by reference to the strength of the 



horse. 



Kohlrabi. — Corruption of the Latin caulo-rapa. stem-turnip. 

 Leek. — Auglo-Saxon. Icac or leak. 



Lettuce. — Latin, lactuca, the lettuce; from Zac, milk, referring to 



the milky juice of the plant. 

 Melon. — Latin, mclo. a certain small melon. 



Mushroom. — French, mousscron, alluding to mousse, or moss, in 



which some mushrooms grow. 

 Mustard. — French, mustarde, from Latin mustum. the must, with 



which mustard was mixed. 

 Onion. — French, oignon; indirectly from Latin unus, one, unis, 



oneness, in allusion to a plant of which the oulb was formed 



of one piece. 



Parsley. — From a Greek combination meaning -'rock-parsley," 



a parsley-like plant. 

 Parsnip. — Latin, pastinaca. 



Pea. — French, pais, evidently from Latin pisum. the pea. 

 Pepper, Red. — Latin, piper, the true pepper or black pepper, with 



which the present plant is compared in pungency. 

 Potato. — Spanish and Portuguese, batata, probably an aboriginal 



American name. First applied to the sweet-potato. 

 Pumpkin. — French, pompion, from Latin pepo, a pumpkin-like 



fruit. 



Radish. — Latin, radix, root. 



