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Foeniculum vulgare

Foeniculum vulgare

7.5
A strong smelling herb with feathery leaves and seeds that taste like licorice used in cooking and herbal medicine
  • noun
  • /ˌfiːnɪˈkʌləm ˈvʌlɡɛrɪ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : hinojo
  • In the Mediterranean, both the leaves and bulbs of Foeniculum vulgare are common ingredients in cooking.
  • Foeniculum vulgare (fennel)

Examples

  • I love cooking with Foeniculum vulgare for its unique flavor.

  • Herbalists recommend infusions made from Foeniculum vulgare to aid digestion.

  • The seeds of Foeniculum vulgare are often used to flavor bread and pastries.

  • Have you ever tried Foeniculum vulgare in your dishes?

  • In Italian cuisine, Foeniculum vulgare is often used to add flavor to meats and sauces.

  • The seeds of Foeniculum vulgare are commonly used in herbal teas for their digestive benefits.

  • Many chefs appreciate Foeniculum vulgare for its aromatic quality in salads and roasted vegetables.

Synonyms

common fennel
vsFoeniculum vulgare
  • Specialized
3.2

A Mediterranean plant with feathery leaves and seeds used in cooking that taste like anise

is also used in herbal medicine rather than only in cooking

Surface Forms

Morphology

Foeniculum + vulgare

This is a Latin binomial: 'Foeniculum' names the fennel genus and the specific epithet 'vulgare' typically means 'common', so a speaker who knows both constituents and taxonomic naming could infer 'common fennel'. However, Latin species epithets and taxonomic conventions are not standard English compositional patterns and 'vulgare' is not given in the learner dictionary, so the meaning is only partly predictable to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Foeniculum vulgare is the scientific name for the common herb 'fennel'. In Latin, Foeniculum means 'little hay' because its dry stems look like straw and smell sweet, and vulgare means 'common', so the name gives a simple picture of a common, aromatic plant used in 'cooking' and 'medicine'.