senevey

Middle English

FWOTD – 4 June 2020

Alternative forms

• senvey, senevei, seneveye, senvy, synbey, senebeye, senvoy, synvey, sine-weie, synewey, synevey, senefee

Etymology

From Old French senevé, senevei, from Vulgar Latin *sināpātium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌsɛn(ə)ˈvæi̯/, /ˈsɛn(ə)væi̯/

Noun

senevey (uncountable)

1. mustard or its seed (often used in cuisine and medicine)
   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[1], published c. 1410, Matheu 13:31-32, page 6v, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     An oþer parable iheſus puttide foꝛþ to hem. / ⁊ ſeide / þe kyngdom of heuenes is lijk to a coꝛn of ſeneuey · which a man took ⁊ ſewe in his feeld · / which is þe leeſt of alle ſeedis / but whanne it haþ woxen .· it is the mooſt of alle woꝛtis · ⁊ is maad a tre / ſo þe bꝛiddis of þe eir comen ⁊ dwellen in þe bowis þerof.

     Jesus put another parable forwards to them, saying: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in their field; / it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is the largest of all plants; it becomes a tree, so the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."

Descendants

• English: senvy (obsolete)

References

• “sen(e)vei, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-04-24.