Cucumber – a traveller from Sanskrit gardens to English tables

From Sanskrit ‘urvāruka’ to Latin ‘cucumis’ and Old French ‘cocombre’, the cucumber’s name traces an ancient route of cultivation and language. Some European words follow the Latin path, while others sprouted from the Greek ‘angourion’, giving us German ‘Gurke’, Danish ‘agurk’, and Swedish ‘gurka’. This word card follows the plant’s long linguistic journey from Asian gardens to English markets.