cilantro
Americannoun
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the strong-scented leaves of the coriander plant, used in salads or to flavor and garnish food.
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the coriander plant.
noun
Etymology
Origin of cilantro
1900–05; < Spanish, variant of culantro < Vulgar Latin, dissimilated form of Latin coriandrum coriander
Explanation
Cilantro is a strong, distinctive-smelling herb that's often used in Mexican and Indian cooking. While cilantro looks very similar to parsley, its flavor is much stronger. Cilantro is also known as coriander, as are its dried seeds. The fresh herb is often added to dishes just before serving, like Indian dal and Mexican guacamole, and mixed into Indian chutneys. Interestingly, people taste cilantro in completely different ways — cilantro lovers describe it as having a lemony flavor, while haters say it tastes like soap. Cilantro is a Spanish word, from the Latin coliandrum, "coriander."
Vocabulary lists containing cilantro
World Cuisine - Introductory
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World Cuisine - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
ChatGPT learned that I love cilantro, and my style is best described as “functional minimalism.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026
Quick pickled cucumbers, dressed with rice vinegar, sugar and sesame oil, bring texture and acidity while a classic Mexican mix of minced onion and cilantro finishes things off.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026
The 9-year-old paralyzed in a grocery store aisle, unable to tell parsley from cilantro, whose parents can no longer risk leaving home to shop.
From Slate • Jan. 29, 2026
Simply mix Mexican crema or sour cream with a handful of roughly chopped cilantro — don’t worry, you’ll be adding more fresh herbs soon — and a generous squeeze of lime juice.
From Salon • Aug. 5, 2025
Soon the dinner carpet was full with trays of kebab, grilled onions and tomatoes, platters of fresh chives, green and purple basil, cilantro, radishes, and dill.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
