brou

Forms

brou m (plural brous)^[1] Old and Middle French broust (1399).^[2][3] Thierry already writes brou in 1564, but Richelet still has brout de noix in 1680.^[4]

Etymology

It is from French brout (“young shoot”), as a variant specialised in sense.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} Littré explains the old spelling broust by this link with the noun for a shoot, the husk being a green thing.^[3] That noun is brost “young shoot” (before 1188), the noun behind brouter “to graze”, and goes back to Germanic *brust- (“bud”).^[10][11][12] Gamillscheg proposed Frankish *brust (“young shoot”) as the source, since many French words for shoots and buds are Frankish, while the early Old Occitan record and the sense “bud” kept in southern dialects have led others to think of a Gothic source.^[11]

Meyer-Lübke lists it among the derivatives of a Germanic verb meaning “to sprout”, with Occitan brost (“shoot”) and Catalan brostar (“to sprout, bloom”).^[13] Scheler's older guess, that it belongs to the family of brosse, is not followed.^[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is broust de Noiz in a royal ordinance of 1399 forbidding cloth to be dyed with it: the dye made from the green husk of the walnut.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century broust named the colour drawn from the walnut husk; the husk itself is named brou from 1549.^[7][8] The spelling without t spread slowly: Thierry has brou in 1564, and Richelet still writes brout de noix in 1680.^[4][9]

From 1694 brou de noix is also a liqueur made by steeping green walnuts in brandy.^[8][7] The same phrase, or brou alone, names the brown stain joiners and cabinetmakers use to darken pale wood, and by extension the colour itself.^[10][9] In modern use the word is rare outside brou de noix.^[7]

Timeline

• 1399 – A royal ordinance forbids dyeing cloth with broust de Noiz.^[2]
• 15th century – Broust names the colour drawn from the walnut husk.^[7][3]
• 1549 – Brou is first recorded for the husk.^[7][8]
• 1564 – Thierry's dictionary writes brou.^[9][4]
• 1680 – Richelet still has the form brout de noix.^[4]
• 1694 – Brou de noix is recorded for the walnut liqueur.^[8][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The green outer husk of the walnut, and of other fruits with a shell such as the almond.^[10][8][15]
2. Brou de noix: a brown stain made from walnut husks, used to darken light wood; also the colour.^[10][15][16]
3. Brou de noix: a liqueur made by steeping green walnuts in brandy.^[10][8][3]

Related words

• brout
• brouter
• Proto-Germanic *brust-

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
3. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d Hatzfeld, Adolphe; Darmesteter, Arsène; Thomas, Antoine (1890–1900), Dictionnaire général de la langue française du commencement du XVIIe siècle jusqu'à nos jours, Paris: Delagrave
5. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
6. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/1, 315b
13. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
14. ^ Scheler, Auguste (1888), Dictionnaire d'étymologie française d'après les résultats de la science moderne, 3rd ed., Brussels: Schepens; Paris: Vieweg
15. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
16. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)