Meaning

noun any of various prickly climbing plants of the tropical American genus Smilax having aromatic roots and heart-shaped leaves

noun carbonated drink flavored with an extract from sarsaparilla root or with birch oil and sassafras

originFrom Spanish zarzaparrilla. The first element may ultimately derive from Basque; see Spanish zarza (“blackberry bush”) for more. The usual pronunciation of the first part of the word as /sæsp-/ or /sɑːsp-/ may be due to dissimilatory loss of the first of two r sounds (compare governor /ˈɡʌvənɚ/ and February /ˈfɛb.juˌɛɹi/). Occasionally this word is pronounced with a schwa between the s and the p,…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0