Meaning

noun any of several aromatic herbs having edible seeds and leaves and stems

noun aromatic bulbous stem base eaten cooked or raw in salads

noun leaves used for seasoning

originFrom the Middle English fenel, from the late Old English finuðl, finule (weak feminine forms); fenol, finul (masculine forms), from Proto-West Germanic *fenukl, from the Vulgar Latin *fēnuclum, fēnoclum, from Late Latin fēnuculum, from the Classical Latin faeniculum, a diminutive form of faenum (“hay”); compare the Italian finocchio, the Occitan fenolh, the French fenouil, and the Spanish hinojo.…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0