ail

Forms

ail m (plural ails or aulx)^[1] Old French al (12th century), with several other variants; plural alz (1165–1170), later aulx.^[2] The plural aulx is now dated beside the regular ails, which botanists use.^[3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French al, inherited from Latin allium (“garlic”).^[4][2][6][1] The classical Latin form is alium;^[2] Rey thinks the word probably native to Italy, despite its likeness to a Sanskrit word for a bulbous plant.^[2]

Cognate with Italian aglio, Spanish ajo, Occitan alh and Catalan all.^[2][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie (1165–1170), already in a figurative phrase for something of little worth: ne li valurent puis deus alz “then two garlic bulbs were of no use to him”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word names the plant and its bulb, used as a seasoning or a food.^[2][5] In Old French ne … pas un ail (12th century) meant “nothing at all”, with colourful variants such as ne pas valoir la queue d'un vieil ail.^[2] Several phrases name other plants, among them ail de serpent (1549) and herbe aux aulx (1564).^[2]

In its main use the word calls to mind the cooking of southern France and the Mediterranean, and it is most often used as a mass noun.^[2] The Anglo-Norman word also served for something of little worth, and for wild garlic.^[8]

Timeline

• 1165–1170 – Alz appears in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie.^[4][2]
• 13th century – The form ail replaces earlier al.^[2]
• 1549 – Ail de serpent is recorded as a plant name.^[2]
• 1564 – Herbe aux aulx is recorded.^[2]
• 1723 – French borrows aïoli from Provençal.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. garlic, a bulbous plant whose cloves have a strong smell and a sharp taste.^[5][4][1]
2. The bulb or its cloves used as a condiment: une tête d'ail, une gousse d'ail.^[5][7]
3. (botany) A plant of the genus Allium.^[5][7]

Word family

• aillé
• aillée
• ailler

Related words

• aïoli
• aillade
• alliacé
• alliaire
• Latin allium

Usage notes

Littré still prescribed a pronunciation with “wet” ⟨ll⟩, not /aj/; the modern /aj/ is recorded from 1834.^[7][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)