What does "caraway" mean?

A biennial plant of species Carum carvi, native to Europe and Asia, mainly grown for its seed to be used as a culinary spice. (The convention of putting caraway seeds into rye bread sometimes causes confusion about so-called rye seeds.)

What is a synonym for "caraway"?

Common synonyms include: carum carvi, herb, meridian fennel, persian cumin.

How do you pronounce "caraway"?

Pronounced //ˈkæɹəˌweɪ//.

Caraway

//ˈkæɹəˌweɪ// name, noun

name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A biennial plant of species Carum carvi, native to Europe and Asia, mainly grown for its seed to be used as a culinary spice. (The convention of putting caraway seeds into rye bread sometimes causes confusion about so-called rye seeds.) countable, uncountable
"Caraway has a reputed aphrodisiac virtue. It is frequently mentioned in Oriental love manuals."
2
leaves used sparingly in soups and stews wordnet
3
The seed-like fruit of the caraway plant. countable, uncountable
4
a Eurasian plant with small white flowers yielding caraway seed wordnet
5
A cake or sweetmeat containing caraway seeds. countable, uncountable
"I'll eat her marchpane and her caraways"

Proper Noun

1
A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms

carum carvi herb meridian fennel persian cumin

Example

More examples

"Caraway has a reputed aphrodisiac virtue. It is frequently mentioned in Oriental love manuals."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English caraway, carewey, carwey, from Medieval Latin carui, from Arabic كَرَاوِيَا (karāwiyā), via Aramaic from Ancient Greek καρώ (karṓ), κάρον (káron, “caraway”).

Etymology 2

From the Middle English occupational surname, probably for a spice merchant, related to caraway.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.