parsley

Parsley comes from Middle English persely, from Old French peresil, from Latin petroselīnum, borrowed from Ancient Greek petrosélīnon — a compound of pétros ("rock, stone") and sélīnon ("celery").

The word traveled from Greek through Latin and Old French before settling into Middle English as persely, gradually wearing down its original two-part shape into one smooth syllable-string.

It's built from the same root as celery's ancestor, sélīnon — so parsley and celery share a buried family tie. This form also pushed out the older Old English word petersiliġe, which came from the same Greek root.