[Spanish, probably from manzanilla, chamomile (because the aroma of the sherry was thought to resemble chamomile), from Old Spanish mançanilla , diminutive of mançana , apple, alteration of earlier maçana, from Latin (māla) Mattiāna, variant of (māla) Matiāna, (apples) of Matius, possibly after Gaius Matius Calvena (fl. first century BC), Roman author of a work on gastronomy.]