The English word "cinnamon", appearing in English documents since the 15th century, derives from the Greek κιννάμωμον kinnámōmon (later kínnamon).
Cinnamon has been known since antiquity. It was highly prised and considered valuable enough to be a gift for a king or the gods (e.g. Apollo). Herodotus (c. 484 – c. 425 BC), an ancient Greek historian, wrote that cinnamon grew with various other precious materials such as frankincense and myrrh in Arabia. Together with Aristotle and other authors, he claimed that the ‘sticks’ of cinnamon were collected by giant "cinnamon birds" and used to build their nests