periwinkle

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɛɹ.ɪˌwɪŋ.kəl/^[1]

Etymology

There are two words.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The plant comes from Middle English pervinkle, a diminutive of pervinke,^[2][3][4][6] from Old English pervince,^[2][3][4][5] from Late Latin pervinca,^[3][4][6] short for Latin vincapervinca,^[3][5][6] perhaps from pervincīre “to bind around”.^[2][4] The sea snail is an alteration of Old English pīnewincle,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Latin pīna “mussel” (from Greek) and Old English wincel “corner; spiral shell”,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} probably influenced by the plant name.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The plant is named in Old English (about 1000).^[7][3][4] The sea snail is recorded from 1530.^[3][5][7]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the plant name was used figuratively for a person who excels, the flower of something,^[7][4] and later playfully of a girl (1633).^[7] In heraldry it named the colour blue (1725),^[7] and from 1922 a light purplish blue like the flower.^[7][5] The snail's name also meant its shell (1625).^[7][2]

Timeline

• about 1000 – Old English pervince, the plant.^[3][7]
• about 1300 – parvink.^[3]
• before 1475 – pervyncle.^[3]
• 1530 – the sea snail.^[3][5][7]
• 1922 – a light purplish-blue colour.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of several trailing evergreen plants of the genus Vinca, with glossy leaves and blue or white flowers; myrtle.
2. Any of several small edible sea snails, especially of the genus Littorina, with a thick, cone-shaped spiral shell; a winkle.
3. The shell of such a snail.
4. A light purplish blue.

Word family

• periwinkled

Related words

• winkle
• vinca

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press