armoise

Forms

armoise f (plural armoises)^[1] Old French hermoiz, ermoize;^[2][3][4][5] Anglo-Norman armeise, ermoise and hermoise;^[2][3][4][5] Middle French armise.^[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French ermoize, inherited from Vulgar Latin *artemesia, from Latin artemisia.^[2][1][6][7] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek ἀρτεμισία (artemisía), the name of several plants used for women's ailments, chiefly mugwort, derived from Ἄρτεμις (Ártemis), the goddess.^[2][1][8] Littré explains the name by Artemis's help to women in their illnesses, for which the plant was thought useful.^[9] The origin of the goddess's name is much debated;^[2] Rey thinks a source in Asia Minor most likely.^[2]

The classical Latin form also gave Middle French armise (15th century), the source of popular names of the plant.^[2] Compare Occitan artemezia, Spanish artemisa and Italian artemisia.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tobler–Lommatzsch quotes hermoiz from the glosses of Tours, glossing a plant name;^[3][2] Rey, following the TLF, dates this form to the 12th century.^[3][2] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has armeise “mugwort” from about 1240,^[4] and Littré quotes Rutebeuf calling l'ermoize the best herb in the four corners of the world for curing worms.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Until the 16th century the word, with various spellings, named an aromatic plant used as a remedy.^[2] From the late 18th century naturalists named the species of Artemisia with it: armoise maritime (1791), armoise vulgaire (1803), armoise commune (1816) and armoise des champs (1836).^[2] Armoise absinthe and armoise estragon (1866) name plants of the same genus better known as absinthe and estragon.^[2] The learned form artémise is also used.^[10][8]

Timeline

• 12th century – Hermoiz in the glosses of Tours.^[3][2]
• c. 1240 – Anglo-Norman armeise “mugwort”.^[4]
• 1280 – The form ermoize.^[5]
• 15th century – Middle French armise, from the classical Latin form.^[2]
• 1791 – Armoise maritime is recorded.^[2]
• 1816 – Armoise commune is recorded.^[2]
• 1866 – Armoise absinthe and armoise estragon are recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) Any aromatic plant of the genus Artemisia, of the daisy family, several of which have medicinal uses.^[10][8][9]
2. Common mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris, also called herbe de la Saint-Jean, growing on waste ground and by roadsides.^[10][8][1]

Related words

• artémise
• Latin artemisia

Usage notes

Armoise is also a name of the silk taffeta otherwise called armoisin, borrowed in the 16th century from Italian ermesino;^[5][9] Littré refers this sense to armoisin.^[5][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner
4. ^ a b c d e Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 361
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c 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