anthère

Forms

anthère f (plural anthères)^[1] Middle French antere (1314), anthera (1501) and anthere (1611).^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin anthera (“a remedy made from flowers”),^[3][2][4] which is from Ancient Greek ἀνθηρά (anthērá), the feminine of ἀνθηρός (anthērós, “flowery”),^[4][5][1] from ἄνθος (ánthos, “flower”).^[4][5][6] The FEW notes the Latin word in Dioscorides, Galen and Celsus.^[7] The Grand Robert calls the modern word a borrowing from scientific Latin.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The FEW records antere in a medical text of 1314, and anthera in 1501 for the yellow part in the middle of the rose, used as an astringent in pharmacy.^[2] Godefroy quotes the Grant Herbier: Anthera, c'est la fleur jaune qui est ou milieu de la rose (“anthera is the yellow flower in the middle of the rose”).^[8] Cotgrave glosses Anthere as “the yellow tuft in the middle of a Rose” in 1611.^[9][5]

Semantic evolution

In pharmacy the word stayed in the dictionaries from Corneille (1694) to the mid-19th century.^[2] The botanical sense, the small sac at the tip of the stamen's filament that holds the pollen, is recorded from 1787.^[2] The TLFi's first quotation for it is from 1808, in a forestry manual translated from German.^[10] The Académie defined it in 1932 as the essential part of the stamen, holding the fertilizing dust of plants.^[11] Many learned derivatives followed in the 19th century, such as anthérifère (1811), anthéridie (1845) and anthérozoïde (1872).^[2]

Timeline

• 1314 – Antere is recorded in a medical text.^[2]
• 1501 – Anthera names the yellow centre of the rose.^[2][8]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records anthere.^[9][4][5]
• 1787 – The botanical sense is recorded.^[2]
• 1845 – The derivative anthéridie appears.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) An anther, the swollen upper part of the étamine², which produces and holds the pollen.^[12][13][3]

Word family

• anthéridie
• anthérozoïde
• anthérifère

Related words

• Latin anthera
• Ancient Greek ἀνθηρός (anthērós)

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 647b
3. ^ a b Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 648
8. ^ a b Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon
9. ^ a b Cotgrave, Randle (1611), A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: Adam Islip
10. ^ 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
11. ^ Académie française (1932–1935), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 8th ed., Paris: Hachette
12. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
13. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)