- gherkin
- 1661, from Du. pl. of gurk "cucumber," shortened form of E.Fris. augurk "cucumber," probably from a Balto-Slavic source (cf. Polish ogórek "cucumber"), possibly ult. from Medieval Gk. angourion "a kind of cucumber," said to be from Pers. angarah. The -h- was added 1800s to preserve the hard "g" pronunciation.