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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

sorrel.

Any of various plants with acidic leaves of the genus Rumex, especially

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈsɒɹəl/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsɔɹəl/General-American/ˈsɑɹəl/General-American

  1. Any of various plants with acidic leaves of the genus Rumex, especially

    countable · uncountable

  2. Any of various plants with acidic leaves of the genus Rumex, especially Rumex acetosa (common sorrel, garden sorrel), sometimes used as a salad vegetable.

    countable · uncountable

  3. Members of genus Oxalis or family Oxalidaceae, woodsorrels.

    countable · uncountable

  4. The roselle, Hibiscus sabdariffa.

    countable · uncountable

  5. The roselle, Hibiscus sabdariffa. A drink, consumed especially in the Caribbean around Christmas, made from the flowers of Hibiscus sabdariffa: hibiscus tea.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

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.

noun/ˈsɒɹəl/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsɔɹəl/General-American/ˈsɑɹəl/General-American

  1. A brown colour, with a tint of red.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

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.

adj/ˈsɒɹəl/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsɔɹəl/General-American/ˈsɑɹəl/General-American

  1. Of a brown colour, with a tint of red. (especially: a sorrel horse)

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.