scallion

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun plant having a large slender white bulb and flat overlapping dark green leaves; used in cooking; believed derived from the wild Allium ampeloprasum
  2. noun a young onion before the bulb has enlarged; eaten in salads

Etymology

From Middle English scaloun (“shallot”), from Anglo-Norman scalun (variant of Old French eschaloigne), from a Proto-Romance derivation of Vulgar Latin *escalonia, from Latin Ascalonius (in caepa (“onion”) Ascalonius, "shallot"), from Ascalo (“Ascalon”), from Ancient Greek Ἀσκάλων (Askálōn, “Ascalon, an ancient port city in the Levant”), borrowed from Biblical Hebrew אַשְׁקְלוֹן (ʾašqəlôn).

In classic literature

Synonyms

leek, Allium porrum

A single word — an entire dictionary opens.

Type a word, a sentence, a book title, or a link to an English article. WordNet and the Classics answer.

Try

A library of classics · a vault of words · instant etymology & meaning

Continue reading