Etymology

borage

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Today it means: Borago officinalis, a Mediterranean plant with rough, cucumber-flavored leaves and stems, used in salads and cooked. Full definition →

Middle English borage ← Old French borage ← Medieval Latin borrago
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The story

  1. Arabic · derived fromأَبُو العَرَق
  2. Latin · derived fromborra“short wool, rough hair”
  3. Medieval Latin · derived fromborrago
  4. Old French · derived fromborage
  5. Middle English · inherited fromborage
  6. English todayborage

From Middle English borage, borrowed from Old French borage (compare French bourrache), from Medieval Latin borrago, either from Latin borra (“short wool, rough hair”) or Arabic أَبُو العَرَق (ʔabū l-ʕaraq, literally “father of sweat”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.