Parsley
name, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A bright green, biennial herb, Petroselinum crispum, having many cultivars. countable, uncountable, usually
"Though the parsley seemed to have died, outside it started to regenerate. New crimped leaves came free from the sprigs and spread."
- 2 aromatic herb with flat or crinkly leaves that are cut finely and used to garnish food wordnet
- 3 The leaves of this plant used in Middle Eastern, European, and American cooking. uncountable, usually
- 4 annual or perennial herb with aromatic leaves wordnet
- 5 Any herb resembling parsley, such as cilantro (Chinese parsley) or chervil (French parsley). broadly, uncountable, usually
- 1 To add parsley to. transitive
"Put a layer of mashed potato on one side and also on the other after peppering, salting and finely-chopped parsleying it to taste."
- 1 A surname from Old French. countable, uncountable
- 2 An unincorporated community in Mingo County, West Virginia, United States. countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"In this time of the year the roadsides are in full bloom. You can find there, for example, a lot of cow parsley, rapeseed, and dandelions."
Etymology
From Middle English persely, from Old French peresil, from Latin petroselīnum, from Ancient Greek πετροσέλῑνον (petrosélīnon, “parsley”), from πέτρος (pétros, “rock, stone”) + σέλῑνον (sélīnon, “celery”). Displaced Old English petersiliġe, which goes back to the same root.
Altered form, later assimilated by folk etymology to the herb name parsley, of the medieval family name Passelewe, from Old French passer (“to pass”) + la (“the”) + ewe (“water”), probably a nickname for a ferryman or a person who travelled overseas.
Related phrases
More for "parsley"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.