sarsaparilla
UK/ˌsɑːspəˈɹɪlə/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Northern England/ˌsaspəˈɹɪlə/
sarsaparilla noun: any of various tropical (Central and South) American vines of the genus Smilax, such as Smilax aspera, which have fragrant roots.
Noun
sarsaparilla (countable and uncountable, plural sarsaparillas)
- Any of various tropical (Central and South) American vines of the genus Smilax, such as Smilax aspera, which have fragrant roots.
- Dried roots of these plants, or a flavoring material extracted from these roots.
- A beverage (soft drink) flavored with this root, such as root beer.
- “[…]If Cassidy goes around shooting their fingers off, how are they going to lift their sarsaparilla?” “Rustlers don't drink sarsaparilla,” came the reply, ending the conversation and throwing me back inside my twenty-yard line.1951, John Lardner, Strong Cigars and Lovely Women, page 4
- Many root teas taste delightful and the old American drink, sarsaparilla, was made on the lines of a decoction, while its pleasant taste was known by most of Victorian Britain.1985, Jill Davies, A Garden of Miracles, →ISBN, page 52
- Any of several North American plants, of the genus Aralia, having umbels and small white flowers.
- An American vine of species Nephroia diversifolia.
sarsaparilla meaning in Tamil and Tagalog
sarsaparilla in Tamil
- நன்னாரி
sarsaparilla in Tagalog
- vine of the genus Smilax
- sagnik, sabnik, sarsaparilya
Forms of sarsaparilla
| plural | sarsaparillas |
|---|---|
| alternative form | sarsparilla |
| alternative form | sasaparilla |
| alternative form | sasparilla |
Origin of sarsaparilla
From Spanish zarzaparrilla. The first element may ultimately derive from Basque; see Spanish zarza (“blackberry bush”) for more. The usual pronunciation of the first part of the word as /sæsp-/ or /sɑːsp-/ may be due to dissimilatory loss of the first of two r sounds (compare governor /ˈɡʌvənɚ/ and February /ˈfɛb.juˌɛɹi/). Occasionally this word is pronounced with a schwa between the s and the p, or without a schwa between the p and the r.
Words formed from sarsaparilla
- bristly sarsaparilla
- false sarsaparilla
- Honduran sarsaparilla
- Indian sarsaparilla
- Jamaican sarsaparilla
- Mexican sarsaparilla
- native sarsaparilla
- Para sarsaparilla
- sarsaparilla tree
- sarsaparillin
- sweet sarsaparilla
- Virginia sarsaparilla wild sarsaparilla
Questions about sarsaparilla
- What does sarsaparilla mean?
- Sarsaparilla means any of various tropical (Central and South) American vines of the genus Smilax, such as Smilax aspera, which have fragrant roots.
- What is sarsaparilla in Tamil?
- Sarsaparilla in Tamil is நன்னாரி. See Sarsaparilla meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is sarsaparilla?
- Sarsaparilla is a noun.
- How do you pronounce sarsaparilla?
- Sarsaparilla is pronounced /ˌsɑːspəˈɹɪlə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of sarsaparilla?
- The plural of sarsaparilla is sarsaparillas.
Words near sarsaparilla in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sarsaparilla (page history and authors); sarsaparilla (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-sarsaparilla.ogg.
Cite this entry: “sarsaparilla.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sarsaparilla. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.