smallage
(ˈsmɔːlɪdʒ)
Forms: α. 3 smal, 4 smale ache, 5–6 smalache, 5–7 -ach, 6–7 smallach(e. β. 5 smalege, -edge, 6–7 smalledge, 7 -adge, 6– smallage.
[f. small a. 21 b + ache n.2]
One or other of several varieties of celery or parsley; esp. wild celery or water parsley, Apium graveolens. Now rare.
| α c 1290 St. Cuthbert 52 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 360 ‘Nim,’ he seide, ‘þe milk of one kov.., Iuys of smal-Ache do þar⁓to’. a 1387 Sinon. Barthol. (Anecd. Oxon.) 11 Apium simpliciter,..smale ache. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 94 Leie on þis confeccioun maad of flour of wheete & hony & ius of smalache. c 1450 M.E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 101 Take smalache, reed fenel, rewe, verueyne [etc.]. 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 134 The decoction of rosemarye,..alexander, smallach, &c. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 606 Smallache hath shyning leaues of a darke greene colour. 1603 Holland Plutarch 719 Afterwards when these [Isthmian] Games were accounted, they translated thither..the chaplet of Smallach. |
| β 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 711 Hoc apium, smalege. 1530 Palsgr. 271/2 Smallage an herbe, ache. 1562 Turner Herbal (1568) 40 Smallage hath suche a strong savor,..that no man can..eat it with hys meate. 1636 W. Denny in Ann. Dubrensia (1877) 13 Each three yeeres Victor was with Smallage crown'd, Whose pendant leaves, his head enshadow'd round. 1685 Temple Ess. Gardens Wks. 1720 I. 178 The Plants he mentions, are the Apium, which tho' commonly interpreted Parsly, yet comprehends all Sorts of Smallage, whereof Sellery is one. 1712 Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 2 The large Smallage, which the Gardiners falsly call Macedonian-Parsley. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xvii. (1794) 236 Our wild Smallage,..which is common by ditches and brooks, cannot be rendered esculent by culture. 1822–7 Good Study Med. (1829) I. 248 The cicuta virosa, or water-hemlock, the leaves of which have been mistaken for smallage. 1876 Encycl. Brit. V. 290/2 Celery,..a biennial plant..which, in its native condition, is known in England as smallage. |
| attrib. c 1550 H. Lloyd Treas. Health g iv, Smalladge rote hanged aboute thy necke doth alay the tooth ache. a 1648 Digby Closet Opened (1677) 130 Smallage Gruel. 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1063 Give in Wine the decoction..of the Cyprus Nut, Smallage-seed. 1853 A. Soyer Pantroph. 141 When it is cooked, add pepper and smallage seed. |