Cinnamon /

Cinnamon ( /ˈsɪnəmən/ sin-ə-mən) is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods. Cinnamon trees are native to South East Asia, and its origin was mysterious in Europe until the sixteenth century. The name cinnamon comes from Hebrew and Phoenician through the Greek kinnámōmon. In India, where it is cultivated in the hill ranges of Kerala, it is called "karuvapatta". In Indonesia, where it is cultivated in Java and Sumatra, it is called kayu manis ("sweet wood") and sometimes cassia vera, the "real" cassia. In Sri Lanka, in the original Sinhala, cinnamon is known as kurundu (කුරුඳු), recorded in English in the 17th century as Korunda. In Arabic it is called qerfa (قرفة). In Swahili it is called "mdalasini". In several European languages, the word for cinnamon comes from the Latin word cannella, a diminutive of canna, "cane". Cinnamon has been known from remote antiquity. It was imported to Egypt as early as 2000 BCE, but those who report that it had come from China confuse it with cassia.