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Origin and history of sorrel

sorrel(adj.)

"reddish- or yellowish-brown, chestnut-colored," especially of horses, mid-14c., sorel, (mid-12c. as a surname), from Old French sorel, from sor "yellowish-brown," probably from Frankish *saur "dry," or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *sauza- (source also of Middle Dutch soor "dry," Old High German soren "to become dry," Old English sear "withered, barren;" see sere). Perhaps it is a French diminutive form.

sorrel(n.)

small perennial plant used in medicines and recipes, late 14c., from Old French surele (12c., Anglo-French sorele, Modern French surelle), from sur "sour," from Frankish *sur or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *sura- "sour" (source also of Old High German, Old English sur "sour;" see sour (adj.)). So called for the taste of its leaves.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to sorrel

sere(adj.)

Middle English sere, "dried up, withered, barren" (of plants, etc.), from Old English sear, from Proto-Germanic *sauzas (source also of Middle Low German sor, Dutch zoor "dry"), from PIE root *saus- "dry" (source also of Sanskrit susyati "dries, withers;" Old Persian uška- "dry" (adj.), "land" (n.); Avestan huška- "dry;" Greek auos "dry," auein "to dry;" Latin sudus "dry"). Related to sear. Figurative use from 1530s. Sere month was an old name for "August."

sour(adj.)

Old English sur "sharp and acidic to the taste, tart, acid, fermented," from Proto-Germanic *sura- "sour" (source also of Old Norse surr, Middle Dutch suur, Dutch zuur, Old High German sur, German sauer), from PIE root *suro- "sour, salty, bitter" (source also of Old Church Slavonic syru, Russian syroi "moist, raw;" Lithuanian sūras "salty," sūris "cheese"). French sur "sour, tart" (12c.) is a Germanic loan-word.

The meaning "harsh of temper, crabbed, having a peevish disposition" is from early 13c. The sense in whisky sour (1885) is "with lemon added" (1862). Sour cream is attested from 1855. Sour grapes as a figure of the tendency to disparage something only because it is unattainable, from the Aesop fable of the hungry fox, is by 1836.

The Fox, when hee cannot reach the grapes, saies they are not ripe. ["Outlandish Proverbs Selected," London: 1640]
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    green
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    horse
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    "land bordering a large body of water," c. 1300, from Old English scora, sceor- (in place-names) or from Middle Low German schor "shore, coast, headland," or Middle Dutch scorre "land washed by the sea," all probably from Proto-Germanic *skur-o- "cut," from PIE root *sker- (1) "t
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