Originally (in Old English, in α forms) <post-classical Latinzedoara, zedoare (see below);subsequently either reinforced or reborrowed partly (in β forms) <post-classical Latinzedoara, zedoare, zeduar, cidoar…
Originally (in Old English, in α forms) <post-classical Latinzedoara, zedoare (see below);subsequently either reinforced or reborrowed partly (in β forms) <post-classical Latinzedoara, zedoare, zeduar, cidoar, cydoar (from 10th cent. in continental sources, from 12th cent. in British sources),and partly (in γ forms) <post-classical Latinzedoarium, zeduarium, zedoaria, zeduaria (frequently from 12th cent. in British and continental sources),all <Arabiczadwār, zidwār, jadwār<Persianzadwār (also jadwār).Compare setwalln., ultimately a borrowing of the same Arabic word.
Notes
Foreign-language parallels
Compare:
(i) Anglo-Norman and Middle Frenchzedoar, Old Frenchsydoare, zidoare, citouar, (with prosthetic vowel) ecidoiare, Middle Frenchzedouar, zeduar (13th cent.), Italian †çedoara (beginning of the 14th cent.), and also Middle Dutchsēdeware, zēdeware, zēduare, etc. (Dutchzedoar), (with elision of medial syllable) zēwaer, zeeuwer (Dutchzever), Middle Low Germansēdewer, sēduer, sēduwer, Old High Germanzitwar (Middle High Germanzitwar, GermanZitwer);
(ii) Anglo-Normancedewarie (13th cent.), Middle Frenchzedoaire, zedoayre, zedouaire, zedouarie, zeduaire, zeduari (Frenchzédoaire), Old Occitanzeduari, Spanishzedoaria, †zedoario (both end of the 15th cent.), Portuguesezedoária (1516), Italianzettovario (early 14th cent.; end of the 13th cent. as çedaria in sense ‘zirumbet’).
It is unlikely that there is continuity between Old English and later use. The following 13th-cent. example (in a Latin context) probably shows an instance of the Latin word rather than the English (in β forms):
1291–2
In j quart. Zeduar, 3 1/2 d.
in F. R. Chapman, Sacrist Rolls of Ely (1907) vol. II. 4 (Middle English Dictionary)
Meaning & use
Old English–
Any of several species of the genus Curcuma (family Zingiberaceae), esp.C. zedoaria, which are native to south Asia and have aromatic, tuberous rhizomes. Also: the rhizome of such a plant, used in cooking and (formerly) as a medicinal agent.
To wensealfe..nim garleaces godne dæl; cnuca, & wring þurh clað on gemered hunig; þonne hit swiðe gesoden sy, þonne do ðu pipor & sideware, gallengar & gingifre.
Lacnunga (2001) vol. I. xxx. 18
OE
To eahsealfe: nim aluwan & sidewaran, lawerberian & pipor.
Lacnunga (2001) vol. I. xxxvii. 22
?c1425
Take..of clowes, of maces, of notemuges, of gynger, of zedoare [Latin zedoare], [etc.].
translation of Guy de Chauliac, Grande Chirurgie (Paris MS.) (1971) 158 (Middle English Dictionary)
a1475
Oþir men don herto femigreke, nigelle, and zedwarie.
translation of Gilbertus Anglicus, Compendium Medicinæ (Wellcome MS.) (1991) 152 (Middle English Dictionary)
a1500
Hoc zeduarium, zeduarye.
in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker, Anglo-Saxon & Old English Vocabulary (1884) vol. I. 714/11
?1550
Zedwary, chawed..and swallowed..taketh awaye the grefe of the bely.
H. Llwyd, translation of Pope John XXI, Treasury of Healthe sig. I.vi
1560
After that you haue eaten Garlike, Leekes, or Onions,..eate a piece of the roote of Zeduaria, and you shall not smell at all.
W. Ward, translation of G. Ruscelli, 2nd Part Secretes Alexis of Piemont 39
1655
Take for a Man forty graines of the best Jollop grated, and of Sedoary five graines.
Natura Exenterata 244
1674
If thou art troubled with Gripings or Inflation of the Belly, take of Zedoar, or Angelica-roots, or Orange-peels.
translation of R. Minderer, Medicina Militaris vi. 66
1684
Zedoary is most powerfull against vitreous Phlegm.
translation of T. Bonet, Guide to Practical Physicianiii. 103
1736
Take..Zedoary Root 10 Grains.
Complete Family-piecei. i. 39
1748
The druggists distinguish..the long zedoary and the round zedoary but they differ from one another only in shape, and seem to be different parts of the same root.
W. Lewis, translation of Pharmacopoeia Royal Coll. Physicians Edinburgh 71
1773
Zedoary is the root of a plant said to be of the Ginger kind, growing in different parts of the East Indies, and brought to us chiefly from Bengal.
W. Lewis, translation of C. Neumann, Chemical Works (ed. 2) vol. II. 201
1819
Zedoary,..the dry root [of Curcuma Zerumbet] appears to be the zedoaria of the shops in England.
A. Rees, Cyclopædiavol. XXXIX
1866
C. aromatica and C. Zedoaria furnish Zedoary tubers,..used by the natives of India as aromatic tonics, and as a perfume.
J. Lindley & T. Moore, Treasury of Botanyvol. I. at Curcuma
1880
The undergrowth..consists of cardamom, wild ginger, zedoary, rattan, a small bamboo,..and a few ferns.
C. R. Markham, Peruvian Bark v. 347
1901
40 cwt zedory roots.
Times of India 7 July 10/2
1936
Zedoary is a forgotten spice. A famous condiment of medieval times, it has dropped out of use almost completely.
American Home February 42/2
1963
The Himalayan foothills are the home of the zedoary (Curcuma Zedoaria).
Econ. Botanyvol. 17 130/1
2015
Finely sliced fresh zedoary is added to salads or raw vegetables.
Any of several plants with aromatic roots, spec. †(a) spikenard, Nardostachys jatamansi (obsolete); (b) musk root, Ferula moschata (formerly F. sumbul…
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.
Vowels
iːfleece
ihappy
ɪkit
ɛdress
atrap, bath
ɑːstart, palm, bath
ɒlot
ɔːthought, force
ʌstrut
ʊfoot
uːgoose
əletter
əːnurse
ɪənear
ɛːsquare
ʊəcure
eɪface
ʌɪpride
aʊmouth
əʊgoat
ɔɪvoice
ãgratin
ɒ̃salon
ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.
Vowels
ifleece, happy
ɪkit
ɛdress
ætrap, bath
ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
ɑrstart
ɔcloth, thought
ɔrnorth, force
ʊfoot
ugoose
əstrut, comma
ərnurse, letter
ɪ(ə)rnear
ɛ(ə)rsquare
ʊ(ə)rcure
eɪface
aɪpride
aʊmouth
oʊgoat
ɔɪvoice
ɑ̃gratin
æ̃salon
ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values
gguy
jjay
yyore
chchore
khloch
shshore
ththaw
dhthee
zhbeige
Vowels
atrap
ahpalm
airsquare
arstart
arrcarry (British only)
awthought
ayface
a(ng)gratin
edress
eefleece
eerdeer
errmerry
ikit
ighpride
irrmirror
olot (British only)
ohgoat
oogoose
oorcure
orforce
orrsorry (British only)
owmouth
oyvoice
o(ng)salon
ustrut
uhletter
urnurse
urrhurry
uufoot
Forms
Variant forms
α.
Old English
sideware
β.
late Middle English
zedeware, zeduare
late Middle English–1600s
zedoare
1500s–1600s
zedoar
γ.
(a)
late Middle English
zedwarie
late Middle English–1500s
zeduarye
1500s
zedoarye, zedwary
1500s–1600s
zeduarie
1500s–1700s
zedoarie
1500s–
zedoary
1600s
zedorie
1600s–1700s
zeduary
1600s; 1800s
sedoary
1600s–
zedory
(b)New English Dictionary (OED first edition) (1921) also records a form
late Middle English
zeduarie
δ.
1500s–1600s
seduaria, zeduaria
1500s–1700s
zedoria
1500s–1800s
zedoaria
Frequency
zedoary typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zedoary is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.
Frequency of zedoary, n., 1750–2010
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.
The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.
For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.