asparagus
uh-SPAR-uh-gus · noun
Ancient GreekLatinEnglish
Origin
Asparagus comes from Medieval Latin asparagus (also sparagus), itself from Ancient Greek ἀσπάραγος (aspáragos), a variant of ἀσφάραγος (aspháragos).
Journey
The borrowed Latin/Greek term eventually displaced the native Old English word for the plant, eorþnafola. In some English dialects, speakers later reshaped the unfamiliar word into 'sparrowgrass,' an eggcorn that made it sound like something more familiar.
Related words
The facts don't point to any surviving English cognate beyond the word itself and its dialectal reshaping into 'sparrowgrass.'