cilantro

From Spanish cilantro, possibly from an unattested regional Vulgar Latin variant (with a front vowel) of Late Latin coliandrum, from Latin coriandrum (“coriander”). Doublet of coriander and culantro.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sɪˈlæntɹəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /sɪˈlɑntɹoʊ/

cilantro (usually uncountable, plural cilantros)

1. (US) The stems and leaves of the coriander plant, Coriandrum sativum, used as a seasoning and garnish in cooking.

• (herb): Chinese parsley, coriander

• Coltrain, contrail, cortinal, crotalin

• coriandro (rare)
• culantro (rare, regional, obsolete)

Uncertain; possibly from an unattested regional Vulgar Latin variant of Latin coriandrum—where also its doublet culantro, today obsolete, comes from—with a front vowel, like *ciliandrum or *ceriandrum. (Compare French coriandre, Italian coriandolo, Portuguese coentro) from Ancient Greek κορίαννον (koríannon, “coriander”), κορίανδρον (koríandron).)

• IPA^(key): /θiˈlantɾo/ [θiˈlãn̪.t̪ɾo] (Spain)
• IPA^(key): /siˈlantɾo/ [siˈlãn̪.t̪ɾo] (Latin America, Philippines)

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -antɾo
• Syllabification: ci‧lan‧tro

cilantro m (plural cilantros)

1. coriander, cilantro

• Unlike the English term borrowed from it, the Spanish term refers to both the plants and the seeds.

• → English: cilantro

• “cilantro”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024