parsley
/ˈpɑː(ɹ)sli/noun, verb
parsley is spelled P-A-R-S-L-E-Y: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, parsley means “A bright green, biennial herb, Petroselinum crispum, having many cultivars” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of parsley is parsleys.
How many letters and syllables are in parsley?
| Letters | 7: P-A-R-S-L-E-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 20,356th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is parsley?
Parsley appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce parsley?
- /ˈpɑː(ɹ)sli/
Parsley has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-parsley.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with parsley?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as parsley.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: sparely.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of parsley
- parsleys plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- parsleying participle, present
- parsleyed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does parsley mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A bright green, biennial herb, Petroselinum crispum, having many cultivars.
- 2
The leaves of this plant used in Middle Eastern, European, and American cooking.
- 3
Any herb resembling parsley, such as cilantro (Chinese parsley) or chervil (French parsley).
verb
- 1
To add parsley to.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Parsley in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | persil |
| German | Petersil, Petersilie , Petersilienkraut |
| Portuguese | perrexil, salsa, salsinha |
| Spanish | perejil |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does parsley come from?
From Middle English persely, from Old French peresil, from Latin petroselīnum, from Ancient Greek πετροσέλῑνον (petrosélīnon, “parsley”), from πέτρος (pétros, “rock, stone”) + σέλῑνον (sélīnon, “celery”). Displaced Old English petersiliġe, which goes back to the same root.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).