cypress

cypress¹ evergreen tree

Etymology

The word for the tree is inherited from Middle English cipres, also cypres,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman ciprés and Old French cipres,^{[4][5][2][6][7]} now cyprès,^[6][8] from Late Latin cypressus,^{[2][6][9][10]} from Ancient Greek κυπάρισσος (kupárissos).^{[2][6][10][8]} The earlier Latin borrowing of the Greek word was cupressus; the later cypressus and the rare cyparissus were refashioned after the Greek,^[2][6] and the American Heritage Dictionary takes cypressus as probably a blend of cupressus and cyparissus.^[9] The Greek word was probably borrowed from an unknown language of the Mediterranean region spoken before Greek, as was Latin cupressus;^[6][7][4][8] Klein derives it from the Hebrew name of the tree whose wood was used to build the ark (Genesis 6:14), and Etymonline and Barnhart compare it.^[3][6][7] Old English already had cypresse, borrowed from Latin,^[11][12][13] and the modern spelling cypress replaced Middle English cipres under the influence of the Late Latin form.^{[2][12][8][14]} The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from 1121–25, for the tree and its wood.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The evergreen tree, dated about 1175 by Barnhart^[7] and the late 12th century by Etymonline.^[6] The OED's first quotation is from the Cursor Mundi (before 1325, in a manuscript of before 1400).^[2]

Semantic evolution

The name was first given to the Mediterranean tree Cupressus sempervirens, and by 1386, in Chaucer's Sir Thopas, to its wood.^[2] The tree, noted for its dark foliage and durable, fragrant wood, was sacred to Pluto, and its branches were used at funerals as an emblem of mourning;^[6][2] this use is recorded in English from 1590, in Spenser's Faerie Queene.^[2] From 1548, in Turner's Names of Herbes, the word was applied to plants thought to resemble the cypress.^[2] From 1785 it was also used for related trees of America, Africa, Australia and Japan, such as the bald cypress.^[2][6][8] In Cornwall the common tamarisk was called cypress.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – Middle English cipres, the cypress tree.^[7] Etymonline dates it to the late 12th century,^[6] the OED to before 1325.^[2]
• c. 1386 – the wood of the tree, in Chaucer.^[2]
• 1548 – plants resembling the cypress.^[2]
• 1590 – cypress branches as a symbol of mourning, in Spenser.^[2]
• 1785 – trees related to the true cypress.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Any of a genus (Cupressus) of evergreen coniferous trees and shrubs with small, overlapping, scalelike leaves and round cones.^[4][13][8]
2. Any of various related or similar trees, such as Lawson's cypress or the bald cypress of North American swamps.^[13][4][2]
3. The wood of any of these trees.^[13][2]
4. Branches or sprigs of cypress used as a symbol of mourning.^[4][2]

Word family

• cypress knee

cypress² fabric from Cyprus

Etymology

The fabric is inherited from Middle English cipres, also cyprus,^[4][3][12] probably borrowed from Old French Cipre (“Cyprus”), also Cypre, the name of the island of Cyprus, from which various fabrics were brought during and after the Crusades;^[2][3][4][8] the Shorter Oxford gives the Anglo-Norman form as cipres.^[8] Weekley notes an earlier form cipre.^[14] In Anglo-Norman Cipre also meant silver-gilt thread.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A cloth of gold or other costly material: before 1440, in the romance Sir Degrevant.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates the word to the 15th century,^[4] and Dictionary.com to 1350–1400.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The name passed from a rich cloth of gold (to about 1500) to a costly satin, satin of Cypres (1509–1603),^[2][4] and then especially to a light, transparent fabric like crape, called more fully cypress lawn, which, when black, was much worn in mourning (1577–1722).^[2][8][4] A piece of it was worn as a mourning band on the hat or as a kerchief (1530–1717).^[2][4] Milton used cypress lawn in Il Penseroso.^[14] In Kent the word still meant a thin black crape-like material in the 19th century, and in Norfolk the dark grey, striped colour of a tabby cat.^[15][2]

Timeline

• before 1440 – a cloth of gold or other costly fabric.^[2]
• 1509 – a costly satin, satin of Cypres.^[2]
• 1530 – a piece of cypress worn as a sign of mourning.^[2]
• 1577 – a light, crape-like fabric, cypress lawn.^[2]
• 1857 – dark grey with darker markings, of a tabby cat (local).^[2][15]

Meanings

Noun

1. (now rare or obsolete) Any of various rich fabrics brought from or through Cyprus in the Middle Ages, especially a costly satin.^[4][2][8]
2. (now rare or obsolete) A thin, transparent gauze like crape, usually dyed black and worn in mourning; cypress lawn.^[4][2][8]
3. (now rare or obsolete) A piece of this fabric worn as a sign of mourning, as a kerchief or hatband.^[4][2]