Etymo

cinnamon

An aromatic spice made from tree bark.

Played on · Day 28 · word 5 of 5

A spice name shortened by its travels

How cinnamon reached English

oldest first
  1. Greek

    kinnamōmon

  2. Latin

    cinnamomum

    ‘cinnamon’

  3. Old French

    cinnamone

  4. Middle English

    cynamone

  5. English

    cinnamon

The story of cinnamon

A long spice name shortened on its way through several languages.

Greek kinnamōmon led to Latin cinnamomum. The word passed through Anglo-French before Middle English cynamone and modern cinnamon.

Anglo-French is an intervening stage omitted from the cards. The deeper non-Indo-European origin is not scored; a related Hebrew word is not presented as a direct ancestor.

Source

Merriam-Webster: cinnamon

Word History supplies the selected forms and Anglo-French mediation.

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