- oregano
- 1771, from Sp./Sp. Amer. oregano, from L. origanus, origanum, from Gk. oreiganon, from oros "mountain" (see oread) + ganos "brightness, ornament." The older form of the word in Eng. was the L.-derived origanum (c.1265), also origan (c.1420). In Europe, the dried leaves of wild marjoram; in America, a different, and more pungent, shrub.