▪ I. sorrel, n.1 Bot.
(ˈsɒrəl)
Forms: 4, 6–7 sorell, 5–6 sorel, 6–7 sorrell (6 sowrell), 6– sorrel.
[a. OF. surele (12th cent.), sorele, surelle (mod.F. surelle), f. OF. sur adj., an adoption of the Germanic sūr sour a.]
1. a. One or other of certain small perennial plants belonging to the genus Rumex, characterized by a sour taste, and to some extent cultivated for culinary purposes; esp. the common wild species, R. acetosa.
Earlier botanical names are Acedula (also Acidula), Acetosa, and Oxalis.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 465/1 Sorel, herbe, surella. 1530 Palsgr. 272/2 Sorell an herbe, oseille. 1548 Turner Names Herbes (E.D.S.) 69 Oxalis, in barbarus latin Acetosa or Acidula, in englishe Sorel or sourdocke. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 558 Sorrel is commonly sowen in gardens, and is to be found also growing wylde. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme ii. xv. 222 Sorrell & burnet..may be sowen in fine ground, and well manured, in the spring time, especially the sorrell. 1653 H. Cogan Pinto's Trav. xlvi. 180 Going into the woods we sustained ourselves with a certain herb like unto Sorrell. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet in Aliments, etc. i. 259 Several Plants known by their Taste, as Sorrel. 1763 Mills Pract. Husb. IV. 131 The seeds of the annual sorts of sorrel should be sown about the latter end of March. 1816 Keats ‘I stood tip-toe’ 98 Her nimble toes Patting against the sorrel as she goes. 1868 Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 394 ‘Acid’ soils,..indicated by the growth of sorrel..and other sour plants. 1889 A. R. Wallace Darwinism (1890) 29 The sorrel..covers hundreds of acres with a sheet of red. |
b. With distinguishing epithets, denoting various species of the genus
Rumex.
For
sheep's,
tree,
Welsh sorrel see these words.
| 1611 Cotgr., Ozeille petite,..*barren Sorrell. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Acetosa, The Northern barren Sorrel. |
| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 610/1 By means of the common *broad-leaved sorrel an excellent black colour is..given to woollen stuffs. 1855 Delamer Kitchen Garden (1861) 93 The best..is the Broad-leaved sorrel, of which a marked sub⁓variety, the Golden Sorrel, is almost exclusively cultivated in the environs of Dunkirk. |
| c 1710 Petiver Cat. Ray's Eng. Herbal Tab. iii, *Common Sorrel. 1763 Mills Pract. Husb. IV. 130 The common sorrel, which grows naturally in pasture lands in most parts of England. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xviii. (1794) 253 Common..Sorrel,..growing in meadows and pastures. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. lxxx. 320 Oxalis Crispa, *Curled Sorrell. |
| 1858 A. Irvine Handbk. Brit. Plants 379 Rumex,..*Dock Sorrel. 1886 [see dock n.1 4]. |
| 1846–50 A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 477 Rumex acetosella. *Field Sorrel. |
| 1681 in Thanes of Cawdor (Spald. Club) 352 *French sorrell. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Acetosa, The Round-leav'd or French Sorrel. 1819 Pantologia s.v. Rumex, R. sentatus, French sorrel. 1829 [see French a. 5]. |
| 1601 Chester Love's Mart. lviii, Sage, Scorpiades, and the *garden sorrell. 1855 *Golden sorrel [see broad-leaved sorrel above]. |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens v. ix. 559 The fifth kind, which groweth in ditches, is called..in Englishe, *Great Sorrel, Water Sorrel, and *Horse Sorrel. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. lxxx. 319 Oxalis tuberosa, *Knobbed Sorrell. |
| 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Acetosa, The Common or *Meadow Sorrel. |
| 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., The great *mountain-sorrel. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Petite salette, *Pettie Sorrell, sallet Sorrell. |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens v. ix. 558 Oxalis Romana, Tours Sorrel or *Romayne Sorrel. 1764 Mills Pract. Husb. IV. 130 The round-leafed garden, or Roman sorrel. 1796 [see roman a. 14 b]. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. lxxx. 320 Oxalis Franca seu Romana, *Round Sorrell. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 25 Others will have the Leaf like round Sorrel. |
| 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Acetosa, The *Round-leav'd (or French) Sorrel. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., The round-leaved garden-sorrel. 1855 Delamer Kitchen Garden (1861) 93 The Round-leaved sorrel..is not the kind to cultivate, except for variety. 1611 *Salad sorrel [see petty sorrel above]. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. lxxx. 321 Oxalis minor, *Small Sorrell. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Ozeille sauvage,..*sowre Sorrell, the sowre Docke. 1578 *Tours sorrel, *Water sorrel [see Roman sorrel and Great sorrel above]. |
| 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Cantherinum lapathum, *wilde sorell. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Ozeille sauvage, wild sorrell. |
2. The leaves of species of
Rumex (see sense 1) used in cookery or medicine, or as a salad; a decoction or drink made from one or other of these plants.
| a 1400 in Rel. Ant. I. 51 Drynk sorell, plantayne, and chekyn-mete. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 54 With gynger þo pigge eton shalle be, And sorel with þo moton. 1539 Elyot Cast. Helthe 24 Sorell. Being sodden, it louseth the bealy. 1575 Gascoigne Posies Ep. Yng. Gent., Wks. 1907 I. 12 If the Chirurgian which should seeke Sorrell to rypen an Ulcer, will take Rewe [etc.]. 1620 Venner Via Recta vii. 145 Sorell is good in hot seasons..for the cholericke. 1696 Floyer On the Humours vi. 68 Cyder, French and Rhenish Wines, Vinegar, Sorrel, Verjuice, Limons. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Sat. ii. iv. 37 Sorrel and White-Wine, if you costive prove, And Muscles, all Obstructions shall remove. 1747–96 H. Glasse Cookery v. 78 Take two handfuls of sorrel, pound it in a mortar. |
3. † a. sorrel de boys,
= wood-sorrel.
Obs.| a 1400 Stockholm Med. MS. fol. 95 Alla .i. sorell de boye. 1548 Elyot, Acidula,..an herbe called sorrell de boys. 1552 Huloet, Alleluya herbe, otherwise called Sorrell de Boys. 1647 Hexham i. (Herbs), Sorell de boyes, or Cuckoes Sorell, Kockocks Suyringh. |
b. With distinguishing epithets, denoting various species of
Oxalis (wood-sorrel).
| 1647 [see prec.]. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Alleluja,..an Herb otherwise call'd Wood-sorrel, or French Sorrel. Ibid., Oxalis, wild Sorrel or Wood-Sorrel, an Herb. 1889 J. H. Maiden Usef. Plants 50 Oxalis corniculata,..‘Clover Sorrel’, or ‘Sour Grass’. 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. s.v., Ladies' sorrel, Oxalis stricta. |
4. With distinguishing epithet: One or other of various plants of other genera in some way resembling sorrel (see
quots.).
| 1864 Grisebach Flora Brit. W. Ind. 787/2 *Climbing Sorrel, Begonia scandens. |
| 1697 Phil. Trans. XIX. 375 Acetosa (a Plant of the Family with Rhubarb, which will be called The *Indian Sorrel, or Sower Docken). 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. App. s.v., Indian Sorrel, a name sometimes given to ketmia. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 327 Sorrel, Indian Red, Hibiscus. Ibid., Sorrel, Indian White, Hibiscus. 1864 Grisebach Flora Brit. W. Ind. 787/2 Sorrel, Indian or red, Hibiscus Sabdarifa. |
| 1843 Babington Brit. Bot. (1847) 273 Oxyria reniformis,..*Mountain Sorrel. |
| 1889 J. H. Maiden Usef. Plants 35 Hibiscus heterophyllus,..‘*Queensland Sorrel’. |
| 1829 Loudon Encycl. Plants 586 note, H[ibiscus] Sabdariffa..in the West Indies is called *Red Sorrel. |
| 1864 Grisebach Flora Brit. W. Ind. 787/2 *Switch Sorrel, Dodonæa viscosa. 1887 C. A. Moloney Forestry W. Africa 303 Switch Sorrel of Jamaica..Shrub or small tree. |
5. pl. Species of sorrel; sorrel plants.
| 1596 in Analecta Scotica II. 13 The seid of..sorrelis or sourochis. 1725 Fam. Dict. s.v., Alleluya..has all the same Qualities and the same Taste as the other Sorrels. 1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 221/2 Well known as troublesome weeds to the agriculturist, under the name of docks and sorrels. 1866 Treas. Bot. 998/2 The Sorrels are considered of great importance in French cookery. |
6. salt of sorrel, binoxalate of potash.
| 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. II. 209 Oxalic Acidulum, the Salt of Sorrel of the Shops. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 192 Two drams of sal-ammoniac, and half a dram of salt of sorrel. 1887 Bentley Man. Bot. (ed. 5) 654 A potassium salt of oxalic acid, commonly termed salt of sorrel. |
7. a. attrib., as
sorrel-flower,
sorrel genus,
sorrel leaf,
sorrel seed.
| 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., Sorrel seeds..are esteemed astringent. 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 350 Sorrel leaves are inodorous, and have a grateful..acidulous taste. 1845 S. Judd Margaret i. xvii, The snowfields seemed to bloom with glowing sorrel-flowers. 1857 Henfrey Bot. 359 Polygonaceæ. The Sorrel Order. 1866 Treas. Bot. 998/1 Rumex, the Dock and Sorrel genus. |
b. In the sense ‘made from sorrel’, as
sorrel drink,
sorrel jam,
sorrel sauce,
sorrel sops,
sorrel soup,
sorrel water.
| 1558 Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. 40 b, Thre vnces of endiue water, or sorell water. 1589 in H. Hall Soc. Eliz. Age (1887) 213 For rostinge the mutton and chickens and sorell soppes for the chickens. 1611 Cotgr., Vinaigrette, sorrell sawce. 1634 Heywood & Brome Lanc. Witches iii. H.'s Wks. 1874 IV. 214 Here comes the payre of boyld Lovers in Sorrell sops. 1771 E. Haywood New Present for Maid 155 Lay it in a dish with some sorrel sauce. 1797 J. Woodforde Diary 20 Apr. (1931) V. 28 We had for Dinner to day, some Haddocks..Sorrell Soup, a boiled Tongue & Veal Cutlets. 1855 Delamer Kitchen Garden (1861) 93 It is used..principally for sorrel-soup. 1862 in Veness El Dorado (1866) App. 122 Sorrel jelly,..sorrel jam, preserved papaws [etc.]. 1863 Chambers's Encycl. V. 359/1 Hibiscus Sabdariffa..affords a refreshing beverage, well known in the West Indies as Sorrel Cool Drink. |
c. In the names of various plants, etc., as
sorrel-thorn,
-vine,
-wood (see
quots.). Also
sorrel-tree.
| 1799 Med. Jrnl. II. 80 The irritability inherent in the stamina of the flowers of the sorrel-thorn (l'épine-vinette). 1864 Grisebach Flora Brit. W. Ind. 787/2 Sorrel-vine, Cissus acida. 1874 Treas. Bot. Suppl. 1343/2 Sorrelwood (N[ew] Zeal[and]), Oxalis magellanica. |
▪ II. sorrel, a. and n.2 (
ˈsɒrəl)
Forms: 5–8 (9
arch.)
sorel, 5
sorelle,
sowrell, 5–8
sorell, 6–7
soril; 6–7
sorrell, 7
-ill, 6–
sorrel.
[a. OF. sorel (soreal, -eaul, -iel), f. sore sore a.2 Hence also med.L. sorellus.] A. adj. Of a bright chestnut colour; reddish brown:
a. Of horses (or other animals).
| 1469 in Somerset Med. Wills (1901) 216, I will that my seruant William Wilson have a sorelle hackney of mine. 1543 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 175 A sorell geldinge. 1570 Bury Wills (Camden) 156 My sorrell meare coult. 1634–5 Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 39 Here, in their stable, four dainty sorrel pied horses. 1680 Lond. Gaz. No. 1520/4 A Sorrel, or Bright Chesnut Mare, about 14 Hands and a half high. 1704 Swift Batt. Bks. Misc. (1711) 252 A sorrel Gelding of a monstrous Size. 1706 Lond. Gaz. No. 4190/4 A sorrel chesnut Nag, a little crack winded. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words, Sorrel, chestnut-coloured, as applied to a horse. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. iv. 23 How Mas'r Shelby was thinking of buying a new sorrel colt. 1884 Bible Zech. i. 8 Behind him there were horses, red, sorrel, and white. |
b. Of hair or persons.
| 1600 Breton Pasquils Fooles-cap xxv, Shee, in a glasse, that sees her Sorrell haire, And straight will put it to the Painters die [etc.]. 1602 ― Mother's Blessing lxxv, A sorrell foretop, and a sowish feature. 1634 Massinger Very Woman iii. i, My sorrel slaves are of a lower price, Because the colour's faint. 1664 Butler Hud. ii. i. 696 A Roan-Gelding.., a Lock on's hoof, A sorrel-mane. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Sorrel-pate, red Hair'd. 1708 Brit. Apollo No. 36. 2/2 Red Hair'd People, or Carrotty, Sandy, Sorrel, or what you will call them. |
c. Of colour or hue.
| 1534 in Wells Wills (1890) 41 Oon mayre of sorell color. 1599 T. M[oufet] Silkwormes 72 How they color change, From blacke to browne, from browne to sorrel bay. 1611 Cotgr., Saurir, to..turne into a Sorrell colour. Ibid., Vntill they [sc. herrings] haue gotten their Sorrell hue. |
d. Comb., as
sorrel-coloured adj.;
sorrel-top colloq. (
orig. U.S.), a red-haired person.
| 1887 W. B. Yeats Let. 13 Aug. in Lett. W. B. Yeats to Katherine Tynan (1953) 37, I enclose these trivial verses... The Fairy Doctor. The fairy doctor comes our way Over the sorrel-coloured wold. |
| 1863 ‘E. Kirke’ My Southern Friends iv. 58 ‘Har, you lousy sorrel-top,’ said the trader to the red-faced and red-headed bar tender. 1904 ‘O. Henry’ in Everybody's Mag. Feb. 187/1, I guess they don't raise 74-inch sorrel-tops with romping ways down in his precinct. 1918 G. Frankau One of Them xix. 145 Once more released to lavish wealth and name On head or blonde or sorrel-top or raven. |
B. n. 1. a. A horse of a bright chestnut or reddish brown colour; also as the name of a horse. (So
OF. Sorel.)
| c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 202 But on them she wyl have a bonde, As weel of bayard as of brende, And yit for sorelle she wyl stonde. 1482 in Cely Papers (Camden) 109 Grett sorell ys in good plyght. 1599 Hall Sat. vi. i. 223 Saint Georges Sorrel, or his crosse of blood. 1600 J. M. New Metamorphosis (Nares, 1859), Noe holla Jacke, nor Sorrell, hola boye, Will make them stay. 1708 Brit. Apollo No. 90. 3/1 O'er Hill and Dale on Sorrel, Noble Steed. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. ix, Sure my Lord's Sorrel is not resty. Ibid., Sorrel, disdaining the rein, sprung forward. 1783–9 T. Day Sandford & Merton (1851) 442, I can assure you they are the true Suffolk sorrels, the first breed of working horses in the kingdom. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain lvi, The horse was small but beautiful, a sorrel with long mane and tail. 1894 Outing XXIV. 383/2 At the easy, comfortable pace with which old sorrel jogs him to town on court days. |
| transf. 1803 J. Davis Trav. Amer. 378, I am no half-and-half breed; no chesnut-sorrel of a mulatto. |
b. In allusive use: (see
quot. 1710).
| 1705 Hickeringill Priest-cr. ii. viii. 82 Those that (Profanely if not Traiterously) Drink a Health to Sorrel. 1710 Answ. to Sacheverell's Serm. 15 The King [William III] having..a fall from his Horse (called Sorrel),..which was thought to be the cause of his Death, they rejoyced at it, and did usually drink a Health to Sorrel. |
2. A buck in its third year. Now
Obs. or
arch.| 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Hunting e iv, And ye speke of the Bucke, the fyrst yere he is A fawne,..The secunde yere a preket, the iii. yere a sowrell. 1530 Palsgr. 272/2 Sorell, a yonge bucke. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. ii. 60 The Dogges did yell,..then Sorell iumps from thicket. 1616 N. Riding Rec. II. 122 John Turner presented for breaking the chase of the R{supt} Hon. Lord Burghley and shooting a sorell there. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 27 July 1654, I went to the hunting of a sorel deere. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. i. 310 If any Deer come out that is not weighty, or a Deer of Antlier, which is Buck, Sore, or Sorel. 1865 G. F. Berkeley Life & Recoll. II. 256 Doe or buck, pricket, sor or sorel, my orders from the Crown were that every one should be destroyed. |
| transf. 1612 Christian turned Turk (T.), I am but a mere sorell; my head's not hardened yet! |
3. A sorrel or reddish-brown colour. Freq. with reference to horses.
| 1530 Palsgr. 272/2 Sorrell, colour of an horse, sorrel. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 273 His horse was of a fiery sorrell, with blacke feete. 1611 Cotgr., Alezan toustade, a darke reddish colour, as of mettall burnt in the fire; a burnt sorrell. 1688 Holme Armoury ii. 155/1 Sorrel, is more lighter than a light Bay, inclining to a Yellow. 1706 Stevens Span. Dict. 1, Alazán dorádo, betwixt Roan and Sorrel. 1787 Best Angling (ed. 2) 11 The best colours for lines are sorell, white, and grey. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Sorrel, a colour between a chestnut and a red. 1860 O. W. Holmes Elsie V. (1887) 111 She was of the shade we call sorrel, or, as an Englishman would perhaps say, chestnut. |