oregano

noun

1. an aromatic herb, Origanum vulgare, of the mint family, having leaves used as seasoning in cooking.

noun

1. a Mediterranean variety of wild marjoram (Origanum vulgare), with pungent leaves
2. the dried powdered leaves of this plant, used to season food

n.1771, from Spanish or American Spanish oregano, from Latin origanus, origanum, from Greek oreiganon, from oros “mountain” (see oread) + ganos “brightness, ornament.” The older form of the word in English was the Latin-derived origanum (mid-13c.), also origan (early 15c.). In Europe, the dried leaves of wild marjoram; in America, a different, and more pungent, shrub.