sorrel
Syllables: sor·rel/ˈsɒɹəl/US/ˈsɔɹəl/
sorrel noun: any of various plants with acidic leaves of the genus Rumex, especially.
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Noun (1)
sorrel (countable and uncountable, plural sorrels)
- Any of various plants with acidic leaves of the genus Rumex, especially
- Rumex acetosa (common sorrel, garden sorrel), sometimes used as a salad vegetable.
- At the greenmarket, it’s still mostly potatoes and apples. There are no tender greens, fava beans, peas, asparagus, artichokes, sorrel, rhubarb or early strawberries.
Those harbingers of the season are said to be full of chi, or qi, the Chinese word for life force. We’re craving them as we’re...2013 April 2, David Tanis, “Hurry Up, Spring”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 02 Apr 2013, Dining & Wine
- At the greenmarket, it’s still mostly potatoes and apples. There are no tender greens, fava beans, peas, asparagus, artichokes, sorrel, rhubarb or early strawberries.
- Rumex acetosa (common sorrel, garden sorrel), sometimes used as a salad vegetable.
- Members of genus Oxalis or family Oxalidaceae, woodsorrels.
- The roselle, Hibiscus sabdariffa.
- A drink, consumed especially in the Caribbean around Christmas, made from the flowers of Hibiscus sabdariffa: hibiscus tea.
- Now, many people drink alcohol, but when I was a child I remember drinking sorrel, ginger beer and drinks made from fresh fruits such as soursop and passion-fruit. Sorrel was prepared over a long period, not as quickly as it is now.2007, African and Caribbean Celebrations, →ISBN, page 56
- For instance, one day we were sitting on the porch, looking down at the lagoon and the yachts from all over the world. He was drinking ginger beer mixed with rum, and I was drinking sorrel. No rum. Out of nowhere, he proposed.2009, C. C. Alick, Dancing with the Yumawalli: Inspired by True Events, page 62
- A drink, consumed especially in the Caribbean around Christmas, made from the flowers of Hibiscus sabdariffa: hibiscus tea.
Noun (2)
sorrel (countable and uncountable, plural sorrels)
- A brown colour, with a tint of red.
- Synonyms:
- chestnut
Adjective
sorrel (not comparable)
- Of a brown colour, with a tint of red. (especially: a sorrel horse)
- A little harmless gossip ensued on various themes, such as where old Aunt Sally got her new red head-kerchief, and how "Missis was a going to give Lizzy that spotted muslin gown, when she 'd got her new berage made up;" and how Mas'r Shelby was thinking of buying a new sorrel colt, that was going...1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter 4, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume I, Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor &...
Proper noun capitalized: Sorrel
Sorrel
- A female given name.
sorrel meaning in Tamil, Tagalog, Arabic and Persian
sorrel in Tamil
- இளம் செம்பழுப்பு, இளம் செம்பழுப்பு நிறக் குதிரை, சொறல்
sorrel in Tagalog
- plant of genus Rumex
- kukuyuli
sorrel in Arabic
- plant of genus Rumex
- حُمَّاض بُسْتَانِيّ ḥummāḍ bustāniyy
- colour
- أَشْقَر ʔašqar
sorrel in Persian
- plant of genus Rumex
- ترشک درشت toršak e dorošt, ترشک toršak, ترشه torša
- colour
- شیده šide
Synonyms of sorrel
Forms of sorrel
| plural | sorrels |
|---|
Origin of sorrel
From Middle English sorel, from Old French sorel, surele (“sorrel”), from Old French sur (“sour”), of Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sūraz (“sour”); equivalent to sour + -el (diminutive suffix). Compare Old English sūre (“sorrel”), Icelandic súra (“sorrel”), Dutch zuring (“dock (plant), sorrel”). More at sour.
From Middle English *sorel, from Middle French *sorel, sorrel, surrel, from Middle French sor (“yellowish-brown, reddish-brown”), probably from Old Frankish *saur (“dried”), from Proto-Germanic *sauzaz (“dry”), from Proto-Indo-European *saus- (“dry, parched”); equivalent to sore (“reddish-brown”) + -el (diminutive suffix). Cognate with Middle Dutch soor (“dry”), Old High German sōrēn (“to become dry”), and Old English sēar (“withered, barren”). See also sere.
Words formed from sorrel
- alpine sheep's sorrel
- alpine sorrel
- buckler sorrel
- Cape sorrel
- field sorrel
- French sorrel
- grassleaf sorrel
- Guinea sorrel
- heartwing sorrel
- Indian sorrel
- Jamaican sorrel
- Krause's sorrel
- lavender sorrel
- leaf-shield sorrel
- maiden sorrel
- mountain sorrel
- narrow-leaved sorrel
- red sorrel
- redwood sorrel
- salt of sorrel
- scurvy-grass sorrel
- sea sorrel
- sheep sorrel
- shield-leaf sorrel
- sorrel tree
- tree sorrel
- upright yellow-sorrel
- wood sorrel
- woodsorrel
- yellow wood sorrel
Phrases with sorrel
Words that rhyme with sorrel
Questions about sorrel
- What does sorrel mean?
- Sorrel means any of various plants with acidic leaves of the genus Rumex, especially.
- What is sorrel in Tamil?
- Sorrel in Tamil is இளம் செம்பழுப்பு, இளம் செம்பழுப்பு நிறக் குதிரை, சொறல். See Sorrel meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is sorrel?
- Sorrel can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce sorrel?
- Sorrel is pronounced /ˈsɒɹəl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of sorrel?
- The plural of sorrel is sorrels.
Words near sorrel in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sorrel (page history and authors); Sorrel (page history and authors); sorrel (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sorrel.wav.
Cite this entry: “sorrel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sorrel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.