celery

noun

cel·​ery ˈse-lə-rē How to pronounce celery (audio)
ˈsel-rē
plural celeries
: a European herb (Apium graveolens) of the carrot family
specifically : one of a cultivated variety (A. graveolens var. dulce) with leafstalks eaten raw or cooked

Examples of celery in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Tuesday, March, 11, Beef Stew with carrots, potatoes, onions and celery, whole grain roll, Romaine salad and tomatoes, Mandarin oranges, milk. Ramona Sentinel, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2025 Once butter foams, add onion, celery, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper; cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Amanda Stanfield, Southern Living, 19 Feb. 2025 The cooked mirepoix gets blitzed with chicken broth, but once it’s added back to the pot, the soup turns into a creamy, comforting dish, without a carrot or celery chunk in sight. Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel, Bon Appétit, 12 Feb. 2025 Special at the Red Owl Store 50 years ago: navel oranges, 35-cents a dozen; Post Toasties, 12-cents a box; Dove soap, 23-cents; celery, 20-cents; Jeurgen’s Toilet Soap, 4 bars for 19-cents; a ring of bologna, 25-cents a pound. Contributed Content, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for celery

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French céleri (17th-century celeris, sceleri, Middle French scellerin), borrowed from an Upper Italian form (as Ligurian sèlarʼu, Lombard sèleri), altered from Vulgar Latin *selinum (Late Latin selīnon), borrowed from Greek sélīnon, perhaps from a pre-Greek substratal language

First Known Use

1664, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of celery was in 1664

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Celery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/celery. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.

Kids Definition

celery

noun
cel·​ery ˈsel-(ə-)rē How to pronounce celery (audio)
plural celeries
: a European herb related to the carrot and widely grown for the thick edible stems
also : the stems of celery used for food

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