chicory

noun

chic·​o·​ry ˈchi-k(ə-)rē 

variants or less commonly chickory

plural chicories

1

: a thick-rooted usually blue-flowered European perennial composite herb (Cichorium intybus) widely grown for its roots and as a salad plant compare belgian endive, radicchio

2

: the dried ground roasted root of chicory used to flavor or adulterate coffee

Examples of chicory in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Fall Chicory-and-Herb Salad With Warm Goat-Cheese Toasts This salad will accommodate most any variety of chicory, though radicchio and frisée balance each other especially well. —Kitty Greenwald, WSJ, 8 Nov. 2023

The menu highlighted all of Saint Theo’s signature recipes, like the chicory salad, lemon linguine, spicy cherry tomato spaghetti, branzino, and dark chocolate budinos, an Italian delicacy, for dessert. —Eliseé Browchuk, Vogue, 19 Oct. 2023

Brussels sprouts, chicory, pumpkin, butternut squash, parsnips, and Swiss chard are just some of the delicious veggies that are in season right now. —Sunset Staff, Sunset Magazine, 12 Oct. 2023

Offer the lady a cup of chicory, said the woman with the duck. —Mathias Énard, Harper's Magazine, 11 Oct. 2023

This set from Cafe Du Monde comes with one 15-ounce can of coffee and chicory, as well as a box of beignet mix, which can make four dozen beignets to eat with the coffee. —Moriah Mason, Southern Living, 18 Oct. 2023

While chicory is also cultivated in the form of Belgian endive (the blanched, milky yellow root first harvested in Brussels in the 19th century) and puntarelle (spiny stalks famously beloved by Romans), radicchio is by far its most dramatic incarnation. —Zoey Poll Kyoko Hamada, New York Times, 18 Oct. 2023

Growing chicories can be challenging, so Carter suggests doing your advance work before committing to the long but rewarding process of cultivating them. —Hugh Garvey, Sunset Magazine, 5 Oct. 2023

The notion of putting chicory in coffee came to Louisiana by way of the French, who colonized the area in the 17th century. —Taylor Tobin, Southern Living, 27 July 2023

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Word History

Etymology

alteration of Middle English cicoree, from Anglo-French, from Latin cichoreum, from Greek kichoreia

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

chicory

noun

chic·​o·​ry ˈchik-(ə-)rē 

plural chicories

: a thick-rooted usually blue-flowered European herb related to the daisies and grown for its roots and as a salad plant

also : its dried ground roasted root that is sometimes added to coffee