Editing Marjoram (section)

==History==
Marjoram is indigenous to [[Cyprus]], the [[Mediterranean]], [[Turkey]], [[Western Asia]], the [[Arabian Peninsula]], and the [[Levant]], and was known to the ancient [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] and [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] as a symbol of happiness.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2013/07/02/in-the-bins-marjoram-is-the-happiness-herb/| title=In the Bins: Marjoram is the happiness herb| date= 2 July 2013| access-date= 4 August 2021 | website=Santa Cruz Sentinel | last= Barr | first= Catherine | url-access= subscription}}</ref> It may have spread to the British Isles during the [[Middle Ages]].<ref name="sanderson">{{cite book |editor1-last=Prance |editor1-first=Ghillean |editor2-last=Nesbitt |editor2-first=Mark |last1=Sanderson |first1=Helen |last2=Renfrew |first2=Jane M. |date=2005 |title=The Cultural History of Plants |publisher=Routledge |page=111 |isbn=0415927463}}</ref> Marjoram was not widely used in the United States until after World War II.<ref name="sanderson"/>

The name marjoram ([[Old French]]: ''majorane''; {{Langx|la-x-medieval|majorana}}) does not directly derive from the Latin word {{Lang|la|maior}} (major).<ref>{{Cite dictionary|title=marjoram (n.)
|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/marjoram|access-date=2023-02-07|dictionary=Online Etymology Dictionary
|last=Harper | first=Douglas | year=2001}}{{better source needed|date=May 2023|reason=spammy ads}}</ref>

Marjoram is related to [[Samhain]], the [[Ancient Celtic religion|Celtic pagan]] holiday that would eventually become [[Halloween]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Benveniste |first=Daniel |date=September 1990 |title=Tantric Art and the Primal Scene| type= book review of ''Kali: The Feminine Force''. Ajit Mookerjee. Rochester, VT, Destiny Books (Inner Traditions International), 1988 |journal=The San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=39–55 |doi=10.1525/jung.1.1990.9.4.39 |issn=0270-6210}}</ref> It has also been used in [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardi Jewish]] tradition as a ritual medical practice.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lévy|first1= Isaac Jack | first2= Rosemary | last2= Lévy Zumwalt|title=Ritual Medical Lore of Sephardic Women: Sweetening the spirits, healing the sick |date=2002 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=0-252-02697-7 |oclc=1170078028}}</ref> [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greeks]] believed the plant was created by [[Aphrodite]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Adams |first=Sue |title=Herb Folklore |url=https://adamsfarms.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Herb-Folklore-by-Sue-Adams-for-Adams-Website.pdf |website=Adams Fairacre Farms Grocery Store| date=2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author = Rosemary M. Wright | title = A Dictionary of Classical Mythology: Summary of Transformations | website = mythandreligion.upatras.gr | url =  http://mythandreligion.upatras.gr/english/m-r-wright-a-dictionary-of-classical-mythology/ | access-date = January 3, 2023 | publisher = [[University of Patras]]}}</ref> In one myth, the royal perfumer of Cyprus, [[Amaracus]], was transformed into marjoram.<ref>{{cite book | title = Adonis: The Myth of the Dying God in the Italian Renaissance | first = Carlo | last = Caruso |  publisher = [[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] | isbn = 978-1-4725-3882-6 | year = 2013 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JagVAgAAQBAJ | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=JagVAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA116 116]}}</ref> To the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] the herb was known as the herb of happiness, and was believed to increase lifespan. Marjoram is mentioned in  [[De materia medica|De Materia Medica]] by [[Pedanius Dioscorides]], and was used by [[Hippocrates]] as an antiseptic.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 September 2016 |title=<!-- Citation bot stet oblique -->Assessment report on ''Origanum majorana'' L., herba |url=https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/herbal-report/final-assessment-report-origanum-majorana-l-herba_en.pdf |publisher=European Medicines Agency | author=((EU Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products))}}</ref>