orchil

The story

1. Latin · derived fromōricilla
2. Italian · derived fromoricello
3. Arabic · derived from[script needed]
4. Old Catalan · derived fromorxella
5. Old French · derived fromorchel
6. Middle English · derived fromorchell
7. English todayorchil

From Middle English orchell, from Old French orchel, orseil, from Old Catalan orxella (influenced by dialectal Arabic [script needed] ('urjālla)), from Italian oricello, from Latin ōricilla, diminutive of ōricula (variant of auricula), both diminutives of auris (“ear”)) + illa (a double diminutive suffix) or from auris (“ear”) + cula + illa. The name of the dye was influenced by the visual resemblance of the lichen used in production to a small ear.

Words from the same roots