levisticum

The path from Latin to English is a story of serial mishearing. The plant may have originally been called Ligusticum, meaning 'from Liguria,' the coastal region of northwest Italy. Latin altered this to levisticum, possibly by folk-etymological association with levāre (to lift, to relieve) — the plant was used medicinally. Old French turned it into levesche or luvesche. Middle English, hearing the 'luv-' sound, reshaped it into lovage, as if the herb had something to do with love. It did not.

Lovage — Levisticum officinale — is a tall perennial herb in the Apiaceae family that tastes like an intense version of celery. The Romans used it extensively. Apicius, the famous Roman cookbook, calls for lovage in dozens of recipes. In medieval European cuisine, lovage was one of the most commonly grown kitchen herbs. Before celery was cultivated for eating (which did not happen until the 1600s), lovage filled the same flavor role.

The plant can grow over two meters tall, which makes it unusual among culinary herbs. Its leaves, stems, roots, and seeds are all used. In parts of Central Europe, lovage is still a standard soup herb — in Czech and Romanian cooking, it appears in virtually every broth. In English-speaking countries, lovage has become rare. The herb that Apicius used more than almost any other is now a curiosity in English-language cookbooks.

The love-connection, though etymologically false, generated folk uses. Love potions in medieval herbal medicine sometimes included lovage. The plant's name was taken as a sign of its powers, which is exactly how folk etymology works — people hear a word, assign meaning to the sound, and then retrofit the plant's uses to match the name they misheard.